Crossroads
by XD
Summary: In another time and place, Naruto is brought up without knowledge of the Shinobi. And Sasuke is about to find out that true friendship is more than just another phrase in the poetic analects.
1. Prologue

NARUTO © Kishimoto Masashi • Shueisha • Studio Pierrot • TV Tokyo. All rights reserved. Non-profit fun ahead! Fanfic named by Iruka.  
  
Warnings: Eventual fluffy friendship between the boys. Do not read if thou art not a fan of fluff!  
  
  
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Crossroads  
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Prologue  
  
  
  
"I'll do it," the voice rang out loud and clear.  
  
A few heads turned, and many more eyebrows tipped in a show of incredulity. Did this man - this /boy/ understand what he was saying?  
  
"Kakashi," the Third Hokage's raspy, tired acknowledgement broke the tension of imminent quarrel in the air. He paused for a short consideration, then nodded curtly. "Very well. You will hereby be allowed to-"  
  
"Hokage-sama!" A cry of opposition immediately arose among the gathered Jounin and ANBU teams. "This won't solve the problem! The village demands that the boy be slaughtered!"  
  
"Silence!" Sarutobi roared, slamming one hand onto his table, upsetting the crystal ball that was placed there. The throng hushed at the strong show of disapproval.  
  
After glaring at the guilty ninja in the room with murderous intent, the Third growled, "You want to kill an innocent boy whom the Fourth decreed to be viewed as a hero? A child who saved the village from destruction?"  
  
Several older men and women, likely from the council, exchanged glances. One then stepped up and explained, "If the child is to really be a hero who helped fight against the Kyuubi, then he must be killed. Only then can we be truly rid of the demon fox. It is too dangerous to allow someone like him to roam the streets of the village freely."  
  
The eerie, calm way in which the elder had spoken his thoughts made Kakashi's blood freeze and boil at the same time. "I /said/ I'd take care of him. The boy doesn't have to die." He rather insistently, though also very politely, reminded the people who were on scene about his previous statement.  
  
"You will be silent when the council speaks, Hatake Jounin!" The same elder who had stepped out prior now turned to behold the silver-haired man with a reproving glare.  
  
"I do not see what is so offensive about Kakashi offering to undertake a task nobody wants to," the Third retorted, causing the council members to shrink back slightly. "And I will not sentence a boy to death for nothing he has done wrong. Kakashi, you may go now, and await further instructions at the east gates."  
  
"Wait, Hokage-sama," the elder bowed slightly to indicate his apologies for his outburst, before Kakashi could vanish from the scene and thus render the decision sealed. "We are sorry for our rash words. But you know in your heart that the villagers will not rest until they have persecuted the bearer of the nine-tailed demon fox to the ends of the earth. His life in this village will just turn out to be a living hell. I suggest a truce." He gestured. "We will settle the child in a psuedo village and monitor him. Once the psuedo villagers decide that he is of no danger to Konohagakure, we will allow him to return with full status - after all the villagers will have no more grounds to deem him as dangerous. But as long as the decision is unclear, he stays in the psuedo village. This way, we can be sure of his whereabouts and deeds, as well as appease the villagers' desire to feel in control of the situation; especially after we have finally completed the difficult reconstruction of Konoha after /that event/."  
  
The long soliloquy made sense in a twisted sort of way, Sarutobi knew, but he was quite unwilling to allow it to happen. "And who will be taking care of this five-year-old child while he resides in that 'psuedo village?'" He demanded.  
  
A deathly silence ensued.  
  
The Third sighed. "You intend to let nature take it's course? Throw the boy into a village of people who hate him so much that, if not for the Hokage's orders, would be more than willing to suffocate him in his sleep? And you expect things to work out normally?"  
  
"Hokage-sama, there is no other way." A masked ANBU spoke from where he dwelt in the shadows. "With all due respect, Hokage-sama - as the Hokage, you are supposed to administer the will of the village, and you know it. This event concerns the safety of the entire village, and you know where they all stand. Let's not drag this out any longer."  
  
The Hokage placed his chin on the back of his clasped hands and brooded. Finally, he shook his head and sealed the fate of the boy.  
  
"Very well..."  
  
  
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The room had been cleared for a while now, and the pale beams of moonlight presently shone unobstructed into the office. Two lone figures remained, one seated and one standing. The silence that surrounded them was painful to bear, and it was not until the one standing shuffled his feet around slightly that any sound could be heard at all.  
  
"You walked right into that one, Hokage-sama," the lazy, nonchalant tone Kakashi had chosen to use did not faze the Third, who continued staring stonily at the empty room before him. "You even let the /council/ take charge of appointing people who will be staying in that wonderful 'pseudo village.'" There was a pause for the information to sink in. "You have a contingency plan already, I'm sure," the voice was hopeful.  
  
In response, Sarutobi opened his drawer and took a whistle out. He blew twice into it, summoning a sparrow half the size of his palm and sending it off again after muttering something to the bird. His attention then returned to Kakashi.  
  
"How good are you with Henge?" The Third asked pointedly.  
  
"Eh?" Kakashi reeled slightly at the apparently irrelevant question. "Well, good enough to fool myself into the women's bathhouse on several occasions for long periods of time..."  
  
He thought he could see the Third chuckle slightly, before the Hokage regained his composure and asked, "Is your Henge good enough to hoodwink even-"  
  
The moonlight was momentarily blocked by a shadowy figure scaling into the office through the window, causing the Third to stop in mid-speech and Kakashi to be immediately on guard. The Jounin relaxed slightly only when he noticed the familiar Leaf ninja vest and headband the figure was wearing. What a sneaky little thing this one was. He held much potential indeed.  
  
"Uchiha Itachi, reporting for service, Hokage-sama," the young boy said plainly while in a half kneel.  
  
For a split second, Kakashi wondered why the Third had summoned the child prodigy of the Uchiha clan - who had recently been promoted to the Chuunin ranks; at the tender age of ten, no less. He meant to ask, but he had a feeling he was going to find out soon anyway, so he waited.  
  
"Itachi," the Third said while gesturing for the over-polite boy to stand. "Before I give you your mission briefing, answer me just one question." The air tingled with suspense and expectation in the pause that followed, after which the Third continued seamlessly, "What is your opinion of the Fourth?"  
  
Standing slightly ahead of the boy, Kakashi turned around to regard his reaction to the strange question carefully. He could see a glint of pain and loss in Itachi's eyes, even as the long-haired ninja spoke, "He was a brave and worthy Hokage. I know of no equal. Should I be able, I would have gladly taken his place during that event..."  
  
The oldest ninja in the room remained silent in a contemplative pose. "Those were not words recited from memory, but from your heart?"  
  
Itachi's aura blazed at the accusation from where he stood, then calmed down. "From the bottom of my heart, Hokage-sama."  
  
There were times when even the Legendary Late could get impatient, and Kakashi now demonstrated it by asking, "Hokage-sama, what exactly is going on?"  
  
The gray-haired leader sighed wearily, and removed the Hokage hat, placing it on the table. "I have an S-class mission for the both of you." He looked at the younger ninjas in their eyes. "It involves risking your life, as does all other S grade missions - although on a much greater scale. It also involves a long period of absence from the Leaf, a long period of maintaining a transformation jutsu which you may never, if ever, get to dispel in broad daylight, and the eventual outcome of becoming Nukenin - Abandoners, in the eyes of the village..." The Third narrowed his eyes upon the younger ones, who both had looks of semi-fascination drawn over their features, as if both wondering what kind of a mission required such extensive skills and drastic outcomes. "Kakashi. Transform into me. Itachi, use your Sharingan and tell me if you can see through the illusion."  
  
"Hokage-sama!" Kakashi was instantly dismayed. "That goes without saying, doesn't it?"  
  
"Kakashi-san is right," Itachi nodded curtly. "The Sharingan can see through any Henge, even the high level ones."  
  
The Third laughed. "Well if we can't find a way to fool the Sharingan, then this mission is doomed before it has even begun."  
  
Kakashi and Itachi exchanged a mutual look of dark confusion.  
  
"What is this mission, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked, hoping that he sounded polite enough not to be assumptive. It might not have showed on his face, but he was dying with curiosity inside.  
  
"You are," the Third rested his eyes, "to protect, with your life if necessary, the legacy of the Fourth Hokage."  
  
Again, silence crept into the room.  
  
"I wasn't aware the Fourth had..." Kakashi's raised an eyebrow in confusion. Even the usually stoic-faced Itachi was visibly surprised.  
  
"He does, Kakashi," the Third confirmed, "and it was the child you had just volunteered to protect."  
  
The Jounin blinked. "Uzumaki Naruto?" He wondered aloud, and the Third nodded. Kakashi almost winced. He had volunteered to take care of the child despite having no such prior experience and no wife to help him either, because he felt a strong stroke of pity and injustice for the orphan whom the village were about to sacrifice in the name of security. And mainly because he wanted the council to just shut their self-righteous trap up. He certainly had not known that the little thing was the descendant of the very man he held with the highest regard in this village. Now that the truth was out, though, the entire meeting just now disgusted him to the core of his soul. "Did they... did those - excuse my unintelligible words - old nutcases /know/?"  
  
Sarutobi's eyes became downcast. "Yondaime forbade me from saying. I say it to you both because I know that you trust the Fourth, and that he trusts you both. This fact will never leave this chamber, understand?"  
  
Nobody answered, so he took it as a silent vouch of agreement. "Now, Itachi, listen to me." The Hokage turned to regard the outwardly calm boy. "I have known of your deep respect for the Fourth. I merely asked you that question to seek a confirmation. You say you would risk your life for him, and here I ask you to do exactly that. The village councils have decreed that Naruto, the vessel of the nine-tailed demon fox be sentenced to an indefinite time of imprisonment in a mock village so that they can monitor his movements. They will be sending rounds of people to ascertain his health from time to time, but none will be devoted, nor will any show him any favour.  
  
"It pains me to foresee that the son of a great leader will grow up to be bitterly opposed to his own people. That is why the both of you must- no, you WILL perfect a transformation Jutsu that no ninja can see through - not even the Sharingan, and leave this village in another form, follow Naruto, and show him that hatred and ostracism isn't all there is to his life." He breathed, noting that both younglings were riveted to his monologue.  
  
"This is not a game, Kakashi, Itachi," Sarutobi sternly warned. "It involves possibly decades of the rest of your lives, and the legacy of a great man. Of course, I will send covert help occasionally. But the matter is dire, and I need your answer immediately. You may not discuss this with anybody but yourself."  
  
"I'll do it," Kakashi said, a shadow of the words he had spoken at the outset. "I already said I would, and Yondaime always tells me that I need to be a man of my word. Punctuality not withstanding. Maybe."  
  
Deciding that this tardy answer was enough for now, Sarutobi turned to Itachi, whose visage remained hooded in the shadowed room. When he shook his fringe out of his face, however, his eyes were pulsating with a soft, red glow. "Shall we begin, Kakashi-san?" He asked softly, turning to look at the older ninja. "It's not going to be easy to perfect a transformation Jutsu that can fool the Sharingan..."  
  
Sarutobi smiled slightly despite himself. "I take that as a 'yes' from the both of you, then."  
  
The two young genius ninjas bowed in unison, and vanished from the room along with the outward bound breeze.  
  
  
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It would be ten years before anybody even came close to the truth of the matter.  
  
  
  
  
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Part 1 of 7  
27/3/2004  
xdtougenkyou.net  
  
a/n  
it took me four months to get off my butt to editing this thing properly. o.Ox if you're still reading this, thank you, and hopefully you're interested enough to stay on! 


	2. Chapter One

NARUTO © Kishimoto Masashi • Shueisha • Studio Pierrot • TV Tokyo. All rights reserved. Non-profit fun ahead! Fanfic named by Iruka.  
  
Warnings: Eventual fluffy friendship between the boys. Do not read if thou art not a fan of fluff!  
  
  
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Crossroads  
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Chapter One  
  
  
  
At the age of five, Naruto woke up to a strange new room with no recollection of the previous five years of his life, except the feeling that they weren't something he had wanted to remember anyway. A rather young travelling merchant by the name of Iruka knocked on his door the very same day while he was yet wondering about the strangeness of it all and sold him some ramen.  
  
He had smiled at Naruto, and Naruto felt warm and fuzzy inside. He didn't quite recall being smiled at so nicely ever before in his whole life of five years.  
  
So Naruto decided that he was going to eat ramen for the rest of his life.  
  
  
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By the time he was six, Iruka was dropping by almost every other day. It started when Naruto ambushed him with a pail of water while he was opening the door. When questioned the boy said he had read it from one of the scrolls lying around the house. At that moment, however, as Naruto stood by and laughed at his prank well pulled, Iruka twitched and promptly put Naruto over his lap to spank him. Thereafter Iruka swore he would be back to 'educate' Naruto about what he should and should not be doing to his elders.  
  
And that was why Iruka made frequent appearances at Naruto's house, mothering over the boy with an iron rod.  
  
Well, at least he always brought food and money.  
  
  
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Seven years old was Naruto when he noticed something strange. A black cat perched atop the large tree outside his house every morning when he went out to take care of the garden Iruka had helped him plant for food. It would stare at him as he did his work. At first, Naruto thought nothing of it. But it was strange to have a black cat stare at you all day from atop a tree.  
  
One day, he caught sight of a silver dog sitting beneath the tree the cat was perched atop, licking its paws, and that was when it dawned upon him.  
  
The cat had been chased up the tree by the dog! Every morning! Poor cat! He got Iruka to bring the cat down and tried to get the cat and dog to shake hands. While the one-eyed dog very happily obliged, the red-eyed cat had glared and ran back to Naruto, crouching behind the boy.  
  
Naruto had laughed. Genuinely happily. So genuinely happily, in fact, that Iruka insisted that he kept the animals as pets. The dog had not protested, walking straight into the house and sitting in front of the fireplace like he had always lived there - or at least, been inside enough to know it well. The cat looked like he was about to leap back into the tree when Naruto scooped him up and grinned at him. Without waiting for a reaction, he marched back into the house, and thus when the door closed, their fates were sealed.  
  
Not like it wasn't their original mission to begin with, was it?  
  
  
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It was an interesting if boring eighth year for Naruto, as he slowly began to feel the hatred behind the eyes of the villagers when they looked at him. He had asked Iruka, but the man waved it off everytime with a nervous snigger. Of course he was hiding something, but at least he was genuinely concerned about Naruto's welfare in spite of his knowledge of whatever secret lurked behind himself and this village, Naruto had thought. Otherwise, all was fine in Naruto's household of a boy, a stranger, a cat and a dog.  
  
Speaking of which, Naruto had struck upon a revelation one fine day. The animals in his house did not have names! That was cruel! Even his plants had names! While he tried to come up with good names for the animals he loved with his life, the silver wolf-dog had gone into Naruto's room, made several minutes worth of brushing sounds, before returning to the living room, dragging a forlorn looking scroll behind him. There were just a few simple words written on it.  
  
Inu - Kakashi  
  
Neko - Itachi  
  
When Naruto announced their names to Iruka the next day, the man almost choked on his miso. Asking Naruto how he had come up with those names, the boy simply replied that they had told him themselves. This caused the man to stare at the beasts with a strange, suspicious glow in his eyes.  
  
Which was quickly dispelled when Kakashi leapt onto the man and slobbered him amidst loud protests. Naruto laughed, and Itachi sat there looking upon the scene with as much amusement as a black cat with red eyes could have.  
  
All was calm in the family.  
  
Just like the calm before the storm.  
  
  
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During the ninth year of his life Naruto began showing signs of frustration about his situation. The villagers despised him for something he did not know. That in itself did not bother him. But when their emotions translated to action, Naruto found himself seething at his inability to defend himself.  
  
In the day, he had Iruka, whose presence alone warded off any antagonistic stares. But in the night, things were just different.  
  
Things would happen. And Naruto would stand before the closed door that was the only thing shielding him from the mob he had to face outside.  
  
Naruto would always turn around to look behind him.  
  
Kakashi would be lying peacefully by the empty fireplace, whereas Itachi would be sitting by the windowsill, staring at Naruto. Behind the threshold of the door, the angry shouts of the villagers would be heard. As long as there was some prickly crime in the day, the villagers would insist that Naruto was behind it, when all he had been doing was probably watering his wheat crop. Naruto ignored them for the most part. But sometimes, they would threaten to burn down his house and his garden, leaving him no choice but to defend himself. Before he faced his opponents, the boy would always turn around to glance at his friends, trying to draw as much courage as he could.  
  
Never would he let them go homeless.  
  
He would take a deep breath, and storm out of his house to confront the issues that would face him, bravely.  
  
Because Naruto always locked the door, Itachi would watch quietly from the window. As quietly as Kakashi pretended to be asleep.  
  
But when Naruto stumbled in later, bleeding in ten different places, one of the two would be missing while the other carefully followed the boy around as he tried to patch himself up.  
  
By the end of that year, the night attacks had nearly all stopped.  
  
Mainly because the persecutors either went missing, went mad, went on long journeys, or were killed.  
  
Even those they blamed it on Naruto.  
  
Things upheaved, climaxed, and then calmed down.  
  
And by the time Naruto was ten, most of the villagers had become more accepting towards him, although they continued to ignore him.  
  
Still, he did not hope against hope. And that was probably when the pranks were unleashed in full force, despite Iruka's horrified protests.  
  
  
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The village was situated in the middle of the forest dividing Fire from Sand. It was a fairly large village by itself, and was allowed to operate as a normal civilian stronghold. An agreement between the Third and the council saw to it that no information was to be hidden by travelling merchants who were bound to want to hawk their wares in the streets. Only, no villager would be allowed to leave the village without the proper papers from the village chief, thus rendering the village a safe cocoon for the purpose of harbouring the child many feared unreasonably.  
  
Five years had elapsed since then. Naruto was now ten.  
  
Kakashi the human found himself staring at the round, unmoving moon in the sky.  
  
In the five years that passed since they moved into the makeshift village, he could see that it was slowly developing a life of its own. Naruto grew up believing he was an orphan born and bred in the pseudo village. People had stopped pretending to be what they were not a long time ago, and settled naturally into their roles of normal civilians - not undercover ninjas, trying to get by their daily lives.  
  
If Kakashi hadn't known any better, he would have been lulled into the false security of the superficial peace as well.  
  
From where he stayed hidden in the trees, with the help of a camouflague and invisibility Jutsu, he could peer through the window of Naruto's house and keep watch over the boy. Too many times he had intercepted the manifestations of hatred the villagers had for the child, and knew better than to let his guard down for even a second.  
  
Being with the boy through these tender years of his made him realise just how brutal human nature could be when blinded by poor reasoning. Although the hatred in the villagers' eyes was nothing he had never seen before, he did not believe that trained ninjas like them were willing to unleash that kind of emotion on a boy who did nothing to deserve the manner of treatment they were affording him.  
  
Yet Naruto remained an enigma.  
  
Throughout the period of unjustified persecution, the boy continued to grow mentally stronger than before. He would rise up to the challenge any unhappy villager threw in his way, and though he did not always walk away triumphant, he at least had had the courage to face the issue, rather than being content with running away and never managing to be true to himself. Of course, he had help from one undercover shinobi the Third had obviously sent - Iruka was the name. The man had played a huge role in helping the boisterous boy keep most of his innocence and determination intact throughout the years by being a living, human example to Naruto. Something neither Itachi nor Kakashi could do so long as they were under disguise.  
  
The problem with Iruka was that he could only stay a few hours in the day and had to go by night - village rules. Besides, it took several hours alone to journey from the Leaf to this nameless village, even at top speed.  
  
Despite having to endure the cold, lonely nights by himself, Naruto continued to shine brightly with character, making Kakashi marvel at how alike he was, to the Fourth.  
  
As per their mission, Kakashi and Itachi stayed close by Naruto under the perfected Henge no Jutsu, which no shinobi could hope to see through or dispel unless they, the subjects, saw fit to do so. Although for Kakashi himself, he had grown to love the boy like he was his own little brother, and not just his mission objective.  
  
He fiercely protected Naruto under the guise of a wolf-dog, sometimes so much so that Naruto would yell at him to mind his own business. But he knew that it wasn't what the blond really meant. After all, amongst all the peers and contemporaries in this fake village, Kakashi knew that Naruto cherished every little bit of solace, even if solace came in the form of two creatures who were less human in form, but every bit humane in fellow feeling.  
  
Which brought him to his partner-in-crime.  
  
Glancing out from the corner of his eyes, Kakashi could see the dark, brooding Uchiha staring into space. Itachi was an unusually quiet kid, but Kakashi's observation skills was surpassing, and he had long grown to have a mutual understanding with the dark-haired Uchiha. To say the least, all these years in their mission of Naruto caretaking, had forced them to have to know each other like the back of their palms.  
  
It came in handy sometimes, although other times, it just made Kakashi frown with disapproval.  
  
Especially when Itachi started staring at a kunai like that.  
  
"Get a hold of yourself, Itachi," Kakashi's soft, barely audible voice sternly warned. "The villagers are not going to let it slide so easily if you do it again this time. You'll get Naruto into trouble."  
  
The quiet teenager stared casually at his partner for a long time, then put the kunai away. "I'm sorry," he muttered. The silver-haired ninja knew, though, that he was anything but sorry.  
  
"The last time," Kakashi decided to speak out again, his voice even more taut than before. He swear! Itachi was the worst kind of partner you could get stuck with for long missions like these! "... you killed those men for bullying Naruto, the entire village went into an uproar. Mostly because you left them in a heap of mangled, bloodied pulp. Some even thought it was the Kyuubi all over again. Naruto would have been executed if the Third hadn't issued a secret decree to shut everybody up. Have you forgotten?"  
  
Itachi resumed staring at Kakashi. "I'll leave the corpse intact this time," he clarified blandly, like he was discussing yesterday's lunch. "This way, I won't get Naruto into trouble."  
  
Kakashi's fist found Itachi's head before the boy could blink. "That was not my point, Itachi. And no, you may not kill anyone." He insisted, watching as the younger boy rubbed the sore part of his head with a flicker of unhappiness in his eyes. "Although I also know you're not going to listen to me anyway," Kakashi sighed.  
  
"But you always try," Itachi stated rhetorically, pulling a kunai out and staring at it again. "It's been a long time since I last killed someone efficiently. I'm afraid my skills are deteriorating." He paused. "Although, to be fair, I'll probably only know how good I am by going up against the prestigious clans - the Hyuuga or the Uchiha..."  
  
Rolling his eyes at Itachi's detached way of referring to his own clan, Kakashi almost kicked the morose boy off the tree. "If you're that keen, you can kill yourself and see if it works," he shook his head, and Itachi stared at him with interest. "I didn't mean it, smartass!" The silver-haired man whapped the boy on the head again. "If you die before we accomplish this mission, I will personally bring you back to life and kill you again myself, you hear?"  
  
Itachi gave him a Look. "I'm only listening to you sometimes because you outrank me." He stated, again, with the tone of a man taking a walk in the park with a cane on one hand a leashed poodle on the other. "And because I haven't been able to go back to be promoted."  
  
"You don't have to always look at things from that point of view, Chuunin," Kakashi turned his voice slightly school-teacher and mocked. "I've never ordered you to do anything, have I?" He waited for a response, and got none. "We're partners, boy. We need each other to pull this mission off successfully. And we really should try to stay out of trouble. You're a smart boy - smarter than me, maybe. I know the little blond means a lot to you as well, so just be careful, okay? Don't forget that though we've been classified as Abandoners for a long time already, they haven't forgotten to watch out for our heads, even in this village here."  
  
"I am aware of that," Itachi responded coolly. "It's almost daybreak. Thank you for standing watch together with me, Kakashi-san." The darker-haired shinobi spoke no more after that, making a series of hand seals. He was promptly covered by a puff of transformation smoke.  
  
A sleek, black cat with profound, pale red eyes sat where Itachi had been seated. He took one look at Kakashi, then turned his head away with aloofness and looked somewhere else. Kakashi almost laughed. This guy was such a natural kitty.  
  
"All right, time for Naruto to wake up," Kakashi nodded, performing the same hand seals Itachi had and transforming into his wolf-dog guise, leaping off the tree and standing by near the trunk.  
  
If dogs could grin, he would have done so maniacally.  
  
So instead, Kakashi the dog howled.  
  
The moon had vanished, and the sun was slowly climbing its way out of the mountain tops, but that did not stop the man in disguise. He howled again, when there was no movement from the house, looking up at the trees to see a bemused black cat dangling comfortably over one of the branches. Damned cats and their sloth-like abilities! He'd get that cat down from the branch if it was the last thing he-  
  
His continued howling stopped when his head connected with something metallic and hard. The metallic and hard thing fell to the ground and clattered noisily. It was a mug, with the words NA, RU and TO scrawled messily over it with bright, red permanent marker ink.  
  
And that would mean...  
  
"Shut your trap, Kakashi!"  
  
... that Naruto was awake.  
  
The blond loudmouth was screeching from the window, even as he waved a fist threateningly. He was such a cute kid. Kakashi gave him one lazy glare, then returned to howling at the tree.  
  
Officially pissed, the ten-year-old leapt out of the window and dove for the dog, tackling him to the ground. "What's your problem?! Want me to throw you into the fishmonger's pond again, huh? Huh? Can't let me have a good night's rest without howling for your life every morning, can you? Eh? EEHH??!"  
  
Kakashi attempted to wriggle out of Naruto's grip. For a boy of his age, he sure was strong! After succeeding to a certain extent, he yowled again at the branch Itachi was perched on, determining that if he was not going to have a nice morning, then nobody else would.  
  
Unfortunately, this action caused Naruto to stop trying to strangle the dog and to look up at the branches of the tree instead. He gave a yelp of surprise. "Itachi! What're you doing up there? Come down here at once!"  
  
In response, Itachi swung a lazy tail.  
  
"I know!" Naruto pointed. "You're too afraid to come back down! Kakashi must have chased you up there again, right? Don't worry! I'll go fetch you right away! Just stay calm and don't move..."  
  
In the span of time he took to yabber all of that, Naruto had formed a chakra conjuring hand seal. And the two humans-in-disguise watched with half-veiled horror as he ran up the tall tree in a single breath.  
  
"Told you I'd get you right away!" The blond lifted the black cat; who was too surprised to struggle, into his arms.  
  
Did Naruto just /walk/ up that tree?! Kakashi's lazy look had developed into a full stare.  
  
Did Naruto just... ?! Itachi's stare and thoughts were slightly more discreet. And disjointed, because in the middle of his train of thought Naruto leapt off the branch and landed on the ground with a loud noise and lots of rolling - and as Itachi could feel, a lot of chakra cushioning as well.  
  
"Oops!" The boy regained his footing soon and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. Itachi quickly jumped out of his hands, and joined Kakashi in staring in bewilderment at the blond.  
  
"Oh come on," Naruto pouted. "I'm not /that/ reckless. I was just following what that scroll said! And I've been practicing for months already! I'm pretty good at this, you know?"  
  
Kakashi and Itachi exchanged a look of mutual dismayal. 'That scroll,' was probably the Forbidden Scroll the Third had ordered them to hide in Naruto's house to protect it, seeing that there were many who sought the secrets behind it. They had, of course, not counted on Naruto even bothering to stare at the difficult words inside. Apparently, though, the First must have included /pictures/ when he wrote and sealed the scroll, seeing how well Naruto had read and understood it.  
  
"Come on! Ramen for breakfast today!" Naruto cheered, returning into the house he had came out from.  
  
Again, Kakashi and Itachi looked at each other.  
  
This mission was going to be a lot harder than they had thought.  
  
  
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It was when he was eleven, that Naruto first heard the word 'ninja' from a shy little girl called Hinata, who was travelling through the village with her father. Said father then quickly led her away, frowning with disapproval at the blond boy, who stuck his tongue out at him. Hinata had looked back once, blushed a beetroot red, and hid behind her father's sleeve.  
  
Naruto had always thought girls were strange things.  
  
  
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By the time he was twelve, Naruto began getting the hint that he was not supposed to demonstrate the skills he had learnt from the scrolls he found around the house, in public. Every time he tried to pull a prank on someone by, say, walking upside-down a tree branch; Kakashi, in an incredible show of doggy stalkiness and doggy bounciness, would leap at him, catch him by surprise and knock him back to the ground.  
  
Naruto wondered how dogs could be so light when trying to escape from their weekly showers, but so heavy when trying to pull you down to the ground. Really.  
  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
At thirteen, Naruto finally got the full hint and absolutely stopped trying to use his newly learned skills to help him with his pranks - unless he was at a place where people could not see him. Mainly because Itachi followed him around like a leech and bit him whenever he tried to do a hand seal. And dammit, it hurt. And if he got anymore holes in his body he was going to die from haemophilia before he was legal to drink.  
  
How in the world could the cat tell whether it was a hand seal or a hand shake? Itachi must have some really special eyes, Naruto concluded.  
  
  
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By the time he was fourteen, he had already approached the village chief - the only person who was vaguely friendly to him in the whole place, besides Iruka and his two pets - countless times to ask if he could leave the village to become a 'ninja,' whatever that was. He had decided that since he had begun shouting to the villagers that he was going to become a 'ninja,' they had become more attentive to whatever he did, which was good. Because Naruto welcomed attention. Good or bad.  
  
Somehow, though, the chief always managed to distract him with free ramen.  
  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
And it was when Naruto was fifteen, that things started to happen.  
  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
The paper man was late again - although that wasn't anything to be surprised about. He usually took his own sweet time in delivering the morning papers, making extra sure that by the time he reached Naruto's doors, it was already well into the afternoon. Sometimes even after dusk. That really meant nothing to Naruto, except that he would miss all the discounts they offered through the papers in the morning with their cut-out coupons - but he lived in a village which hated him after all; so why should a paper delivery man feel any less?  
  
It wasn't /his/ idea that he got subscribed to the newspapers anyway. Iruka had been the one to insist, again and again. It did have its uses, though. After all, it was only through the papers that Iruka could teach Naruto how to read and write.  
  
Nevertheless, the initial novelty had worn off, and Naruto no longer waited with abated breaths at the arrival of every new sheet. Currently, he was slogging over his little garden in the yard, digging up some ground with a small, sharp object that was shaped like a dagger but had no hilt. Iruka said it was a bunai... no, a gunai. Kunai, or something like that. As long as it was helpful for making edible food, Naruto didn't really care what it was called.  
  
This month was potato month, the boy was grinning to himself as he extricated a few more plump looking roots. The sun was hot, but it wasn't crowding his mood out at all. Potato with ramen made the best meals, after all! Beside him, Kakashi had rolled onto his back and hung a dribbling tongue out, enjoying the late afternoon sun. Itachi was nowhere to be seen as usual, but the cat would pop out soon enough, when he felt like it.  
  
After a few more potatoes landed in Naruto's food basket, he looked up to see that the entire village was awashed with a soft red glow. The boy's eyes sparkled, and he stood up, basket in hand. Dusk was always one of the most prettiest times of the day. The setting sun would light the small village on ethereal fire, a scene an article in the papers once described as 'the mark of the Fire/Sand Alliance,' whatever the Fire/Sand Alliance was. All Naruto knew was that he felt good watching the sunset from his house, and therefore tried to never miss any one of it.  
  
After the last vestiges of the sun vanished behind the sand dunes in the west, and when Naruto was finally about to turn to retire for the night, the newspaper man came.  
  
He threw the stack of crumpled newspapers at Naruto's head with much force, causing the boy to yelp and almost trip over in pain. Itachi had mysteriously appeared when the newspaper man came, and Kakashi was on his feet immediately, growling and snarling at the newcomer. The man immediately shrank back, having had nasty experiences with this particular canine before, but shot Naruto a hateful glare first.  
  
"Watch it, mister!" Naruto yelled, waving a fist. In reply, the man glared even harder.  
  
"Why should I be nice to monsters?" His voice was icy cold, almost nonchalant. "I keep doing it so I can knock the wind out of your throat. It's going to work one day, you lowlife. Just you wait."  
  
Kakashi stopped growling and bent his legs. He was about to pounce on the man and bite the living daylights out of him when Naruto grabbed him by the tail and held him back.  
  
The frowning grin on Naruto's face was what the wolf-dog saw when he turned his head around.  
  
"Hey, asshole," Naruto bared some teeth at the man, who tilted his head in an arrogant pose of expectation. "You've been saying that since I was seven, and you've never come close to succeeding. Looks like I've either got a hard head, or your throw's more sissy than your face!" The boy struck a thumbs-down pose, sticking his tongue out for good measure.  
  
That really did rile the man up, for he turned deep red in the face and was almost ready to climb over the fence to give Naruto a beating he'd never forget, had he not seen Kakashi waiting on the inside, baring his fangs sadistically.  
  
"Just you wait, you little brat!" The man finally gave up and shook an angry fist, quickly escaping into the darkness of the night.  
  
"I'm waiting, mister! Anytime, anyday!" Naruto shot back, a large, triumphant grin on his face. When he was sure he could no longer feel the man's aura, he turned to Kakashi and pat the dog on his head. "Good job, Kakashi! Come on, dinner time!" He cheered to nobody in particular, and made his way back into the house, Kakashi in trail.  
  
Itachi was already inside when Naruto shut the door, and Kakashi tumbled casually to his usual spot in front of the fireplace. Naruto dumped the basket in a corner and quickly sat down on the floor by the window, spreading the newspapers out to try to catch the last rays of light to read a few words, or see a few pictures. Itachi sat near, staring at the papers with intense interest - as he always did. Together, the duo of boy and cat perused the overdued news.  
  
"Hmm... missed another supermart sale again this morning - no surprise there," Naruto traced his finger along the columns, noticing with amusement that Itachi followed the finger. This cat could read, he swore!  
  
Chuckling to himself, he browsed through a few more pages, until the light got too dim to look at it anymore. As he turned the final page, he noticed something and blinked.  
  
"'Exclusive! Murderer of the night revealed!'" he read the headlines out loud, attracting the attention of Itachi as well as Kakashi, whose ears twitched. Itachi stared at the article with his pale, red eyes, attention seemingly apt. Naruto, on the other hand, having no natural nightvision, gave up after stealing a glance on the hazy picture splashed across the papers. "Argh! Too dark to read anymore!" He complained, standing up and stretching. Kakashi padded over quietly and sat down, staring at the newspaper as well, making Naruto grin. He must have the most intelligent cat and dog in his house!  
  
Looking down again, he stared at the picture again. Dark and hazy, with grained quality though it was, he could see that the figure that stood against the full moon was a lean, good-looking man. He held a bloodied sword in one hand, and was slightly turned so that his thick, dark fringe parted in the centre could be seen, the rest of his hair held in a ponytail behind him. The glow of the moonlight against his cold figure made him look majestic and aloof. That alone, however, was not the most captivating part of the picture.  
  
It was his eyes.  
  
The moon's incandescence faded in comparison to the shocking red glow that burned with intensity from the depths of the person's eyes. Naruto knew that a man with red eyes was probably, above all things else, supposed to be eerie and unapproachable. Yet he felt inexplicably drawn to those eyes. So drawn he was, he didn't notice that he was no longer able to really see the picture and was just staring into space until Kakashi bumped into his ankle and whined softly for attention.  
  
Snapping out of his reverie, Naruto looked down. "What?" He asked, just out of plain habit, when he saw the dog looking expectantly at him, panting away. Kakashi tilted his head in the direction of the kitchen and waited as Naruto blinked, then slapped his forehead. "Oh yeah! Right! Dinner! Ramen, ramen!" The boy was back to grinning, making his way easily over to the kitchen. "But really! This village is getting creepier every year! Almost every week the mysterious dark-haired killer strikes someone dead... how did he get so careless that somebody actually took a picture of him, though? The photographer must have gotten some good money for that shot..."  
  
As the blond's rambling tapered off into the kitchen, Itachi shot an accusing glare at Kakashi, who leered as much as a dog could leer, back at the cat. They squared off for a while more, then both vanished from the room in two small wisps of smoke.  
  
"... and like, you know, I really wonder who he'll kill next! I hope it's not me! I'm not going to die before I find out how to become a nin-... eh? Kakashi? Itachi?" The boy set his pet food bowls down on the ground and glanced around the bedarkened house. After a brief respite, he came to the sterling conclusion that Kakashi must have hackled Itachi's fur somehow and now they were on yet another one of their nightly dog-after-cat-after-dog chases. Naruto shook his head, bemused. It wasn't the first time such a thing had happened, so he didn't bother to think too much about it. Instead, he wandered towards the unlit fireplace, sitting down to stare at it mindlessly.  
  
Outside, however, Kakashi and Itachi were doing anything but having a dog-after-cat-after-dog chase.  
  
"Kakashi-san," Itachi's voice was admonishing. He turned to stare at the older ninja, perched atop the same tree trunk they often perched atop to watch over Naruto. "That was uncalled for."  
  
"Hm?" The lazy drawl was unmistakably Kakashi's. "What was uncalled for? Please do elaborate."  
  
"The photograph," Itachi was determined not to be baited. "You are the only one in this village who could have taken that without my knowledge. Why did you submit it to the press? What happened to always being discreet?"  
  
The silver-haired Jounin sighed. "Itachi," he said in a gentle but firm voice, "I told you many times before /not/ to kill the people of this village. But lately you've been consumed with a strange kind of bloodlust I never thought you had in you. I don't even know if I should call it bloodlust, actually." He sighed. "The picture was just a warning. Expect it to go straight to the Hokage the next time it happens."  
  
The darker-haired person nevertheless remained calm. "You would jeopardize the mission for a whim?"  
  
"A whim that involves hundreds of human lives, yes," Kakashi rolled his eyes, "and the lives of our fellow ninjas at that. I've stopped asking why a long time ago, Itachi. Your life is yours, after all, but don't push it too hard," came the stern warning, even as Itachi looked away and shrugged.  
  
"Whatever it is, that photograph will mean I have to lie low for at least a while," the Uchiha prodigy quirked his lips into a gangly semblance of a disappointed pout. "You really know how to grasp your time."  
  
"How else did I get my Jounin license?" Kakashi stooped to about the same height as Itachi was stooping to on the branch, glancing into the dark house through the window. As if remembering something, he randomly blurted, "You know, Naruto has never ever gotten that fireplace to light up. It does get cold in the nights around here..."  
  
"He does not know any Katon skills," Itachi offered. "And we never let him get any further in that Scroll than the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."  
  
"Maybe we should let him take a peek at some of the Katon Jutsu's," Kakashi thought aloud, "he keeps staring at the fireplace as if that if he stares hard enough, he'll get it to light up."  
  
The Uchiha turned his head and stared at his companion. "I don't believe Iruka-san has managed to get Naruto to remember enough words for him to be able to decipher the Katon manual yet."  
  
"Oh," Kakashi blinked, remembering that to be true, "darn. More sleepless winter nights for us then."  
  
Beside him, Itachi continued staring at his superior wordlessly. Then he blinked and looked away, into the house where Naruto was just finishing up with his ramen. Shooting Kakashi another look, he quietly transformed into his animal form and leapt nimbly off the tree, sauntering easily into the house.  
  
Even as Kakashi stared gape-jaw at the retreating form of Itachi, he heard a loud rumbling sound from his own stomach, signifying the end of lunch and tea and the beginning of dinner and supper.  
  
If he could get his hands on it before Itachi did.  
  
"Why that little-" The man swore and quickly leapt down, transforming in the middle of the leap and bounding into the house, howling away. After a few moments of silence, Naruto's loud, shrieking voice could be heard, when Kakashi likely began fighting with Itachi over the food, as they did every other night. Unusually quiet Itachi may be, but when it came to devising schemes and tactics, he certainly lost to nobody.  
  
As the house continued in its rowdiness, two hate-filled eyes glared at scene from without. Accompanying it was a scowl, with almost fang-like canines protruding from the mouth. It had obviously been observing the scene for a rather lengthy period of time, for it was quiet and melded too well into the background to have been just passing by. The scowl line upturned and now was an evil grin. With a soft rustling of leaves the figure departed soundlessly.  
  
Even the leaves knew how evil the aura that was left behind felt.  
  
  
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Unbeknownst to the duo of dog and cat, though, Naruto /had/ already came into contact with the Katon skill scrolls. The Third had gotten Iruka to place some Jutsu scrolls around Naruto's house to see what became of it, and though the boy did not understand much of what went on, he still attempted to mimick some of the hand seals written about in the scrolls. Sometimes he was successful - like the Kage Bunshin; he /still/ hadn't managed to figure out /how/ he had managed to pull that one off, but he was proud nonetheless. He could never show what he had learnt to anyone but Iruka, though. Kakashi and Itachi would eye him carefully whenever he thought about any public demonstrations, and immediately the idea waned. Animal bites were painful!  
  
Currently, as Kakashi and Itachi fought over their food, Naruto concentrated on the fireplace before him. Night had claimed the skies a while ago, and it was getting cold. Naruto was /sure/ that this time he would get the Katon Jutsu right. After all, if he didn't learn how to start that fire spark in the firewood Iruka had made him collect for who knows what reason soon, he and his housepets would freeze their asses off and nobody would find them until their corpses started rotting in summer. Shuddering partly at the concept, and partly at the biting breeze, he tried the hand seals again.  
  
After a few more futile attempts, he sighed heavily and flopped against his bed, grasping the thin sheets in his hands and cuddling helplessly against it. Kakashi and Itachi were still fighting, but that would soon be over, and then they would wander off to wherever they usually wandered off to during the nights.  
  
Occasionally Naruto would awaken to an entire mouthful of silver fur - when Kakashi chose to curl up beside him on the bed. The boy would then without fail scream at the dog; furred up blankets were a pain to wash, dammit! Of course, Naruto appreciated the warmth, comfort and security of having another warm body beside him in sleep, but being stubborn and independent, the boy absolutely refused to depend on his pets more than he should have to.  
  
After all, he should be the one taking care of them, shouldn't he?  
  
Anyway, they were too busy trying to snatch each other's food out of their respective bowls at the moment to bother about curling up to sleep, thought Naruto blandly to himself when he rolled over and saw the silver dog and the black cat in the middle of a heated staring competition. He smiled at the sight, then turned from the scene to face the wooden walls of his house instead.  
  
Looks like it was going to be another cold, cold night.  
  
For the next few minutes? Hours?, Naruto simply stayed in his curled position, shivering. Animal fighting noises had subsided, so Naruto assumed that the dog and cat had either came to a truce or had finally killed each other. Maybe he would find out tomorrow when he was more awake. Since his vulnerable stick house stood just by the main road, he thought he could hear muffled sounds of a mob shouting something to each other - followed by the constant flickering of fire torches by his window. When the noises got progressively louder, he attempted to stifle them out with his pillow over his head. He wondered which unfortunate house the village council was going to pillage tonight.  
  
After all, Naruto the orphan was too unworthy to even steal from, wasn't it? Not like Kakashi or Itachi made it any easier, but still!  
  
To his surprise, therefore, he heard from beneath his pillow sounds of a strong hand banging on his door. The boy stifled a sigh. He certainly needed no more disappointment to fuel his unhappiness tonight. Deciding it had to be a dream, or a hallucination, he pressed the pillow harder against his ears and silently willed the noise to go away.  
  
But it didn't.  
  
Groaning loudly, he flung his blanket off and glared through the darkness at the offending object, and whoever stood behind it, banging the door like there was no tomorrow to do it. Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he saw a flicker of movement from the corner of his room - a flash of darkness disappearing into his kitchen. Naruto blinked. Wondering which issue he should pursue first, he finally yawned, stretched and slowly hobbled to the door to confront the nemesis who stood on the other side.  
  
"What do you want?" The blond boy was hardly able to keep the sleep and irritation out of his voice. He had grabbed the doorknob and swung it open with full force, trying to make it look like he was not afraid of anybody who stood outside.  
  
Which he was not. That, however, did not stop him from being taken aback at the sight before him.  
  
An angry mob stared down at the blond, and he suddenly felt much smaller than he already was. Cursing his momentary display of weakness, he frowned as angrily as he could and snapped, "Don't you know what time it is now? What the hell do you guys want this time?"  
  
The torches they bore flickered and cast eerie, dangerous shadows along the dirt path outside Naruto's house, even as many of them sneered outwardly at the boy. Their spokesman, who although kept a poker-face, could not stop the hatred from seeping out from his eyes or tone when he asked, "Brat. You see someone come by?"  
  
Naruto blinked - firstly, at the fact that the villagers were asking him a reasonable question and secondly, that they were not trying to scold his brains or beat his guts out while they were at it. For as long as he could remember, there were nobody in the village who cared if he lived or died. The only one who did was Iruka, and he was a travelling merchant who stayed in /another/ town! Daily, Naruto was made a mockery off and ridiculed for things he never even knew he did. He would shout, play pranks and generally try to get some attention that was not malicious, even if it had to be negative, but the villagers remained cold and distant.  
  
Sometimes he debated as to whether it was the fact that he was always pulling quick ones on the villagers, since that was the reason they always used when unleashing their torrent of abuse on him. But that had not sounded logical - even to his own ears. There were many in the village who did much, much more heinous things - like that dark-haired red-eyed man, and still those enjoyed acceptance in the society, even if they had to bear the mark of a criminal. Apparently, Naruto wasn't even worthy of that. Why should he, a harmless youth playing harmless tricks on people, be treated any less?  
  
What had happened, to make them hate him so much?  
  
Sometimes Naruto thought he would die to know.  
  
But most of the time, he would rather die to not know.  
  
Trying to set his face into as normal a facade as he could while still in half-sleep mode, Naruto replied gruffly that, "You guys are the only ones to pass by in a long time."  
  
The silence that followed after seemed to force the temperature even lower, when nothing but the cackling of fire upon wooden stake could be heard. The looks of sheer distrust on the mobs' faces was enough to break whatever hope Naruto held in his chest for the brief time that had passed that he was perhaps being treated like a normal person for once. Growling, he lashed out, "Look, I can't help it if you don't believe me. If you wanna, you can come in and turn the house upside down to look for what you're looking for, but I'd tell you not to waste your time because what you're looking for is not here - whatever it is!"  
  
Another silence ensued - that of amazement this time. Did the boy just /dared/ to speak up against the council appointed search party?  
  
In the blink of an eye, Naruto found himself being lifted into the air by a hand grabbing the front of his t-shirt, leaving him gasping and struggling. "Look here, brat," the spokesman sneered, the fire in his eyes rivalling that of his torch, "We're looking for disgusting murderer who's been killing the villagers in cold blood for years now. We finally caught him in the act, chased him, then he came by this way and disappeared. Why we had considered that he would be hiding in your pathetic excuse for a house," there was rancous laughter in the background, "is beyond even me." The man laughed in Naruto's face, and Naruto winced.  
  
He was used to the verbal abuse, hell yeah.  
  
But that didn't mean he couldn't abuse them right back.  
  
"Hey mister," the boy's voice was calm but mischievious. "Did you brush your teeth today? Your breath stinks worse than the toilet at the back of my pathetic excuse of a house." For effect, the blond stuck his tongue out in royal defiance. "I could introduce some really good scrubbing detergent! Want a list?"  
  
The man certainly saw red, for his face flushed a dangerous crimson. He threw Naruto back into the house with brute force, laughing mercilessly as the boy rolled uncontrollably around until his bedpost stopped his advance with a sickening thud. "Mind your manners, you prick! I don't know why the village head even keeps you around at all! One more word and I'll burn your house down, you hear?!"  
  
Naruto coughed, feeling blood slowly oozing out of his mouth, unable to make a proper reply to wipe that smirk off the jerk's face. Slowly, the laughing asshole and his mob of followers departed from the door, and Naruto managed to sit up with much difficulty.  
  
"Damn it," he cursed softly, wiping desperately at the trail of blood that now lingered by the corners of his mouth. After brooding for a while beside his bed on the floor, he realised that his already cold room was getting colder, and so rose up uncaringly to shut the door, still in a state of detachment.  
  
When that was done, he sighed heavily and sank down into a crouch with his back behind the door. He stared ahead at nothing in particular, hand on the area near his ribcage where he had been hurt when the man threw him across the room. He was not overly concerned with the physical injury. After all, he healed at the speed of light - or at least, faster than any normal person he knew could. The blood would dry by tomorrow, and the wound; along with the superficial scars - closed and patched by daylight. It was never the skin-deep wounds that hurt, after all.  
  
It was the hurt that resonated deep within his soul that truly did.  
  
He vaguely remembered getting up and walking to the kitchen, where the only source of water was. Whether or not the wound was going to heal miraculously fast, it was still bad style to let blood dry against his face. If Kakashi saw it, he was going to howl all night again. No way was he letting /that/ happen!  
  
Immediately upon stumbling into the kitchen, however, his hairs began standing on ends, and a strange feeling permeated his every fibre. Shuddering involuntarily - and this time not because of the wind, he allowed his eyes to fall upon a dark, hooded, spectre-like creature prowling the cabinets. The creature jerked stiffly to a stop in whatever he was doing when he sensed someone's eyes upon him, and turned around slowly.  
  
/BLOOD!!/ was the first thing that ran through Naruto's mind. /BlOOD RED! SCARY! SCARY EYES! GLOWING! GLOW-IN-THE-DARK! WAAA!! HE'S GONNA EAT ME! EAT ME!! LIKE ALL THE OTHER GUYS HE KILLED!!!/  
  
The flicker of fire torches began to resume outside his curtained window, indicating that the villagers were passing by again. Ignoring the little voice inside of him warning him that nobody would believe him anyway, Naruto prepared to launch himself at the window and scream the living daylights out of everybody about the red-eyed monster in his kitchen.  
  
That is, until said monster tackled him from behind and clamped a strong hand over the boy's mouth, effectively sealing his voice. Not one to be defeated, however, Naruto thrashed, flailed, kicked, scratched, and punched. But the creature not only had a iron grip on his mouth, he also had a vice-like hold on his other limbs. Hopes of discovery flew further and further together with the rustle of footsteps echoing softer and softer down the dirt road. Though, that wasn't what was really bothering him.  
  
What really was, was that he was starting to suffocate. The damned intruder had a hand over his mouth and half his nose, and urgh! It was getting hard to breath!  
  
In a last, desperate bid to salvage his lost pride and get some fresh air, Naruto opened his mouth and bit down on the hand covering it. Hard.  
  
"Ow!" A hiss came out from behind him, much to Naruto's satisfaction, and he was loosened immediately. Quickly scrambling to his feet, Naruto whipped around and pointed at the shadow.  
  
"Who are you and what are you doing in my house?!"  
  
"Keep it down, you blasted moron!" The shadow had snucked to the window deftly and peered cautiously out of the curtains, before replacing it. "You're going to wake the whole neighbourhood up!"  
  
"Well you give me one damn bloody good reason why I should not when I have this strange monster with glowing-red-eyes thing stalking me and my house in the middle of the night, running away from the village council because he was killing people?! Come on! I'm waiting!" The blond taunted angrily. The nerve of this spectre thing! He barges in and he makes demands! The next thing you know he would be asking for a chocolate ice-cream sundae! How dare he!  
  
The dark shadow opened his mouth to say something, then closed it. In the time that passed, Naruto swore the scowl on his opponent's face deepened. "Ever since I stepped into this stupid section of the village everybody's been pointing fingers. I hate to tell you but I did not kill anybody and have absolutely no idea what is going on," was the stranger's drawl. "I was just passing by... and why the hell is it so cold?" He glanced once in the direction of the unused fireplace, silently pondering his observation. "Do you ever use that thing at all?"  
  
There was a deathly hush.  
  
"Wh-What business is it of yours if I prefer the cold, bastard?" Naruto managed eventually, but he sounded hesitant even to himself. He only hoped the other party wouldn't catch on his word whiskers and use it to-  
  
"... Little moron here can't light a fireplace to save his life, huh?"  
  
Immediately, the blond bristled. "What's your problem already, bastard?! In case you haven't noticed, not everybody in this world has to /know/ how to light a fireplace, idiot!"  
  
There was yet another bout of silence. "But you..." the stranger's voice was apprehensive, and his red eyes glowed with even more intensity, as if he was using it to scan through Naruto's very being. "But you're... you have..."  
  
"What?" Naruto was nonplussed, but curious.  
  
The dark shadow pondered his words for a while. "You have good chakra control." He admitted begrudingly. "Excellent control, actually. Doesn't make sense if you can't even call a small fire..."  
  
Hearing those words caused Naruto to freeze on the spot. Nobody had ever said anything like this to him before - not even Iruka! He was torn between grabbing the stranger and twirling him down his room in a dance for joy and grabbing the stranger by his shoulders and shaking him until he admitted that he had just been pulling a lousy prank on the ostracised orphan.  
  
"Really?" Was the only thing he could whisper after all other thoughts ran through his mind. "You... you mean it?"  
  
The spectre snorted and moved towards where Naruto had gathered all the firewood. "Don't make me repeat myself, moron," he mumbled, before quickly summoning a small fire into the logs with a minor Katon Jutsu. "The Sharingan doesn't lie."  
  
"Sharingan?" Naruto blurted out, confused. "What's that? And like woah! How did you /do/ that?!"  
  
The fire was just starting to catch on the logs in the fireplace, but the stranger froze again. He turned to stare at Naruto incredulously. "You /don't/ know?"  
  
Slightly thrown off guard by the unexpected question, Naruto balked slightly. "So what if i don't?" He quickly replied, heaving a fist into the air. "It's not a damned crime!"  
  
"... you're not a ninja."  
  
Naruto perked up immediately. "I'm going to BE one!" He grinned, then blinked in confusion when reality set in. "Wait - you know about ninjas?"  
  
The other boy snorted. "The name's Uchiha Sasuke. I /am/ a ninja." He stated plainly, tapping his forehead protector while smirking at the other boy. "Couldn't you tell, moron?"  
  
"ARGH!" The blond screeched. "Stop calling me a moron, bastard! My name is Uzumaki Naruto, and I'll have you know that I'm going to become the best ninja in all the whole world and when I do, I'm going to kick your ass so hard you'll be crying into next week!"  
  
In one fluid movement, Sasuke stood and turned towards Naruto, eyes flashing. "Will you just keep it down, you loudmouth?! If you get those villagers back here and if they find me then I'll make sure I /really/ kill you before they drag me away, dammit! So shut up already! Just shut up, all right?"  
  
Properly shocked at the darker-haired boy's sudden outburst, Naruto did keep his peace for a good few minutes, during which Sasuke returned to warming his toes by the fireplace.  
  
The blond frowned at the person in front of him, using his fireplace. He should be more angry, and throwing this boy out at the moment, but he somehow could not bring himself to. It wasn't like Sasuke was /really/ going to kill him, was it? Besides, the fireplace was beginning to warm up the whole place, and it was a feeling Naruto missed very much. This Sasuke thing - he claimed, despite all obvious visual evidence, that he was not the one behind all the murders. But why was he running away then? He must have done something so wrong that the villagers were dying to get their hands on him even in the death of the night, right? Blowing some stray hair noisily away from his face, the blond sat down heavily on the floor and folded his arms around himself, scowling.  
  
"I don't get it," he said, taking care to control his volume, just in case Sasuke got his pants in a twist about it again. "If you're not the killer, then why the hell are you running away from the villagers?"  
  
The raven-haired boy sighed. For a few painful seconds he simply turned around and glared at Naruto with his creepy red eyes, as if daring him to continue. But Naruto wasn't in a patronising mood today and so he glared right back. Eventually, Sasuke turned back to looking at the fire. "I haven't killed anybody in this section of Konoha before, moron." He shook his head. "I'm running away because I don't want to be caught, obviously. You have some of the most unreasonable people around here." He stole a glance at the disbelieving look on Naruto's face and rolled his eyes. "I know you don't believe me, and I'm not expecting you to. Look, I don't want to be any trouble - tomorrow I'll go, and neither you nor your friends will ever see me again. Just let me lie low here for tonight, okay?"  
  
Naruto grunted something akin to disagreement. "Why should I listen to you? What if you're really the killer?! Wouldn't I be helping a criminal? Then I'll get sentenced to death too!" He made a gasp of sudden revelation. "I still think it's not safe! I don't wanna be under the same roof as a murderer for one night! Of course the fact that you haven't killed me yet is besides the point - just what proof do you have that you're not the killer?" Naruto pointed dramatically. "Spill it and maybe I'll even help ya!"  
  
Sasuke groaned, a hand on his forehead. He'd thought that throughout his long, outstanding ninja service, that he had seen all the idiots there were in the world. "I'd ask you the same question myself, dimwit," he muttered and glared at the blond from the corner of his eyes. "What proof do /you/ have that I killed someone?"  
  
Taken aback by the counter, Naruto gaped. "It was in the papers!" He gestured wildly. "The guy looked just like you! Nobody else I know has super duper glow-in-the-dark red eyes like that!"  
  
"Oh?" Sasuke was nevertheless unimpressed. "So if I didn't have super duper glow-in-the-dark eyes you'll gladly let me stay for the night?"  
  
"Gladly!" Naruto grinned confidently. After all, nobody could change the colour of their eyes just like that, could they?  
  
There was a brief silence, after which Sasuke 'hn'ed and turned from the fireplace to smirk at Naruto. "Well, do you see red eyes now?"  
  
Naruto glanced once. "Nope!" And replied cheerfully. It was a few seconds later before the full import of the situation sank into his brain, in which he heaved a loud gasp and said, "You... you!! Your eyes! They... they're not red anymore! WOAH!! Like how?! How did you do that? You gotta teach me! I-"  
  
"Naruto," the voice was terse, curt, and pained. The blond quietened down from his excitement and stared in wonder at the prodigy.  
  
Nobody had ever said his name like this, with no trace of malice or a promise of a painful beating before! Although Sasuke did sound exasperated beyond compare, but still, it was something worth rejoicing over!  
  
"Just shut up and go to sleep."  
  
Even if it /is/ from a heartless stranger like Sasuke!  
  
Naruto grinned besides himself. "This is /my/ house and I will go to sleep whenever /I/ feel like it, bastard!" He heard Sasuke sigh and saw him cringe, but decided he was having too much fun to stop. "And I'm only letting you stay here because you don't have red eyes anymore! And, anybody who is against the village council is my friend! And because you... you can put up a nice fire! Hahah!"  
  
Sasuke shot him a Look. "/I'm/ only staying here because this is the only house along this stretch of road that looked like it was uninhabited! If I'd known I'd be running into a moron like you, I wouldn't have run in at all! And now will you please just shut up so that I can concentrate on figuring out my escape route already?"  
  
The grin on Naruto's face stretched wider.  
  
"You owe me one, Sasuke!"  
  
  
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Meanwhile, high up in their usual tree, Kakashi was trying to stifle his laughter against all odds. Whereas beside him, Itachi kept shooting glares of disdain at the man.  
  
"This is not funny, Kakashi-san," the Uchiha mumbled.  
  
"Oh," Kakashi shook his head, laughing softly. "But it is. It really is.  
  
"Things are going to get very interesting from now on."  
  
  
  
  
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Part 2 of 7  
11/5/2004  
xdtougenkyou.net 


	3. Chapter Two

NARUTO © Kishimoto Masashi • Shueisha • Studio Pierrot • TV Tokyo. All rights reserved. Non-profit fun ahead! Fanfic named by Iruka.  
  
Warnings: Eventual fluffy friendship between the boys. Do not read if thou art not a fan of fluff!  
  
  
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Crossroads of Life  
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Chapter Two  
  
  
  
Sasuke sat on one of the only two chairs in the room. He took much care to make sure that this was the more comfortable one. There was now proper light filtering through the window, so he stared blankly at the little house, scratching his tousled head with sleepiness.  
  
Last night had been a living nightmare. The little rascal by the name of Uzumaki Naruto kept him awake the whole time, blabbering on and on about life the way he viewed it and the people in this section of Konoha like it was the only thing he ever knew in his whole life. Everytime Sasuke thought the blond had run out of things to say, he would suddenly unleash a new barrage of descriptions and narratives and launch into yet another pseudo rant.  
  
The scariest part of it all was that, Sasuke actually deigned himself to respond.  
  
Sometimes it would be just a word or two, when Sasuke felt the need to break the dull monotony of Naruto's constant chatter. Most of the time, though, it was either a full-scale jibe at the blond's rather scary lack of knowledge of chakra and ninja despite his excellent control, or a massive, scathing argument about who had the most creative way of name-calling.  
  
Then at dawn, Naruto suddenly stood up with a strange glint in his eye, ran to the kitchen, grabbed a bucket of something and ran out of the house, not even casting a glance back.  
  
Sasuke thought he would welcome the sudden departure of the noisy boy, and could now concentrate on trying to find a way to avoid the high-level guards that had most certainly have placed on every checkpoint and along the borders. He realised unhappily though, that he was 1) hungry, 2) sleepy and 3) unable to think because it was now /too/ quiet. When Naruto returned, and if he dared say anything more, he was so going to drown the blond's head in the sink - nevermind whose house this was.  
  
He decided to tackle the problems one by one.  
  
Sasuke's Current Priority List  
01) Get out of Konoha Forest.  
02) Get food.  
03) Get sleep.  
04) Get job.  
05) Get trained.  
06) Get aniki!  
  
The dark-haired boy pondered for a while, then added,  
  
07) And maybe thank Naruto. If boy stops being such a prick.  
  
After a brief runthrough of his priorities in his head, Sasuke nodded to himself, pleased with his evaluation. He then looked around for something to help him achieve his first priority of escaping the village.  
  
Naruto's living room, Sasuke noticed, was also his bedroom. Nevertheless, it was a large room, able to hold a bed, a fireplace, a store of sorts, several shelves of books and scrolls, as well as a rather large table and a couple of chairs. Not bad at all. Noticing a transmitter radio on the far side of one of the shelves, he cautiously reached for it.  
  
It was an old model, perhaps popular a decade or so back. Seeing how it was covered with dust, Sasuke wondered if Naruto even knew of the existence of the radio. Shrugging, he cocked the volume as quietly as he could and listened to the news for today.  
  
"pop crack sizzle... that the murderer with red eyes has been identified- static-Uchiha clan-pop popcrackle-no efforts are being spared to- hiss hiss pop -all borders are being secured... -hiss-any information, pleasssss do not hesssssitate to -THWAMP-"  
  
Unable to bear the drone and static for too long, Sasuke shut the radio up by slapping it against the table. He stared at the thing and sighed inwardly. It was just as he had expected. If he tried to make his way out with Genjutsu, he would definitely be discovered by the shinobi currently guarding the village boundaries. Looks like he had to lie low for a while.  
  
And that officially brought him to priority two. Food. Looking up, he was instantly taken aback to find himself staring into a pair of bemused, blue eyes. With a yelp he tumbled ungracefully backwards along with the chair, recognising the background noise to be that of Naruto laughing only a while later, when he stopped seeing the stars orbiting his head.  
  
Sitting up and holding his spinning head, he glared at Naruto angrily. "What was that for?!" He demanded, realising belatedly that he had not even felt Naruto's presence. This boy's chakra control was truly beyond good.  
  
"Noooothing, bastard," Naruto stuck his tongue out, disappearing into the kitchen to put the bucket of paint away. He had grafitti'ed the houses of two art galleries, hosed down the straw roof of a flower nursery and cracked a few holes in the window of the school he was never allowed to enroll for. Some of the children had complained to him that the teachers were evil, cane-twisting, telephone book-tearing maniacs anyway. All in a good day's work!  
  
Sauntering out, he noted that Sasuke was staring with interest at the various scrolls in the shelves - scrolls he had never had any use for. He briefly glanced around and was disappointed to see that neither Kakashi nor Itachi had returned yet. "Hey Sasuke," he called out, and the other boy turned to look at him questioningly. "Did you see a silver dog or a black cat around while I was gone?"  
  
The other boy blinked, then slowly shook his head.  
  
"Hmmm..." The boy turned his attention away and pouted. "... They're usually not this late... Don't tell me they've really killed each other? That can't be... Hmmm..."  
  
"Hey," Sasuke's sharp, slightly annoyed voice caused Naruto to look up. "Do all these scrolls," the Uchiha gestured to the shelf behind him, "belong to you?"  
  
"Does it look like there's someone else in the house it could belong to?" Naruto complained. "I thought you were smarter than that."  
  
This time, instead of a smartass reply, all Naruto got was a strange stare from Sasuke.  
  
"Stop staring at me like that," the blond shivered purposely. "You're creeping me out."  
  
Sasuke did look away, but only after staring for a while more. "Naruto," he began, "let me ask you again. Are you a ninja?"  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Don't ask me questions back, don't make stupid /I'm not a ninja but I'm gonna be one/ statements. Just answer me," Sasuke folded his arms across his chest and glanced at the boy seriously.  
  
"I... ugh..." Unable to anticipate what Sasuke wanted to do with the information, Naruto bit his lower lip and looked away. "No. I'm not."  
  
"Do you know anybody who is, then?"  
  
"No... oh wait, I know you're a ninja!"  
  
Eye roll. "Besides me."  
  
A pout. "No, then."  
  
"What about the person who gave you all these scrolls?"  
  
"Iruka-sensei? Nah, he's just a merchant! He uses these scrolls to teach me how to read!"  
  
"... Iruka-sensei?"  
  
"Yeah!" Naruto bounced about happily, "He's the best! He's the only one who treats me like a human around here! Everybody else thinks I'm some jinx or monster!" The boy continued, still with the happy grin, as if being ostracised did not bother him at all.  
  
And to that, Sasuke rose an eyebrow inquisitively. Although he was in a rush to escape from the riot that was the search party yesterday night, he did overhear a rather unjustified argument between Naruto and the searchers. He had just about convinced himself that he was in the house of a terrible criminal when Naruto shrieked at him in the dark, bringing down any possibility of /that/ being true.  
  
He had been wondering, but could find no real resolution. Perhaps he would be better off asking questions, which he did, saying the first thing that came to his mind, "Why do they hate you so much?"  
  
"I'll be damned if I knew," Naruto snorted and turned his head away. "It's been like that since I could remember. Better not ask questions anymore, and just deal them the same hand they deal me!" The blond grinned, this time in a determined manner.  
  
After a short silence, Sasuke probed, "Is that why you went out so early this morning?"  
  
"Of course!" Naruto said in glee. "Nothing beats grafitti'ing the gallery windows with paint at the break of dawn!"  
  
The other boy shot him an incredulous look. "And you wonder why people hate you?"  
  
Naruto paused in his reverie and pointed rudely at Sasuke, growling unhappily, "Shut up, you! What do you know about me?! They've hated me long before I started playing pranks on them! And why do you care anyway? Speaking of you, you're going to leave today, right?" The blond paused with a semi-scowl, semi-pout on his face. "Have you figured out how to do it yet? The whole town is on red alert looking for you when I went out just now. All the gates are heavily guarded and there are scary people patrolling the streets, picking on anyone who even has black hair. I'll be damned if you don't get thrown into prison the very moment you step out my house!"  
  
"I knew that, dimwit," Sasuke shrugged indifferently. He removed himself from his spot in front of the shelves, casting one final glance at it before walking towards the door and peering out. "Maybe it'll be a bit dangerous to move around in broad daylight. I'm going to try to sneak away in the night instead." He looked away from the door to find Naruto staring at him with a hard frown on his face, suspicion clear in his features. He sighed. "What is it /now/, idiot?"  
  
Choosing to ignore that stab at his intelligence, Naruto pointed at the dark-haired teen, saying, "You really did kill those people, didn't you?"  
  
"Oh, for crying out loud," Sasuke buried his face in his hands for a brief moment. As soon as he emerged back into the open he threw Naruto a look of disdain and mumbled, "Just believe what you want to believe, but you'll be rid of me before long, so enjoy your taunting while it lasts."  
  
"But you do look like that guy!" Naruto whined, bouncing up towards Sasuke to get a better look. "Okay, except that you can change your eye colour whenever you feel like it. But still!"  
  
"And what do you expect me to do about it?" Sasuke raised a hand and whacked Naruto across the back of his head continually. "There're a lot of people," Whack! "... who look alike in this world!" Whack! "Just too bad for me I had to look like some S-class criminal," Whack! "... hiding his life away in this small suburb," Whack! "... is that what you mean?"  
  
In reply, Naruto swatted Sasuke's hands away angrily and growled. "I wasn't kidding! You're not taking me seriously, are you?! You really do look like him! If I were any of the villagers I would've screamed when I saw you too, especially since your photograph just came out on the papers yesterday night!"  
  
While Naruto had been busy with his large, sweeping gestures, Kakashi sauntered in from the front door, a wad of rolled up newspapers clamped tightly in between his mouth. He stopped just in front of the surprised Sasuke, tilting his head and wagging his tail. The young Uchiha wondered briefly how a dog could reflect such amusement in its eyes, before Naruto's loud voice came into the picture again.  
  
"Yes! That's the one!" The blond loudmouth was saying. "Great job, Kakashi! Now give him the paper and show him what I mean!"  
  
"... Kakashi?" The raven-haired boy's eyes hardened slightly, and immediately the Sharingan bled into sight. Naruto gave a yelp of surprise at the deliberate act and jumped backwards, although Kakashi remained where he was seated in front of Sasuke, still wagging his tail like a loyal puppy should and tilting his head to a side in mock wonder.  
  
After several careful, searching Sharingan scrutinies, Sasuke sighed and closed his eyes, willing the bloodline limit skill away. He opened his eyes to suddenly realise that Naruto had backed into the furthest corner of the room from him, and that made him frown. "What do you think you're doing /now/?"  
  
"But you!" Naruto protested immediately, "Your eyes! Red! Glowing, murderous, bloody red! I thought you were going to eat me up like all the other guys you already ate!"  
  
"I do not eat people!" Sasuke bellowed in exasperation. Then in a smaller voice, added, "And even if I did I wouldn't eat an idiot like you."  
  
"Argh! I heard that!" Naruto screeched, still from the far end. "And why the hell did you do that anyway?! I think you're much more likeable with normal eyes than with funny eyes."  
  
"Well, excuse me!" Sasuke shot back, realising he had to shout, since Naruto was at a very far distance apart. "Which idiot names his dog after an S-class Nukenin? Of course it's better to be safe than sorry! And come back here, you! The rate we're shouting the whole village is going to find out that I'm here before the morning finishes!"  
  
Naruto did eventually patter gingerly back closer to Sasuke, and kept alarmingly quiet while he was at it. At the same time, Sasuke had gotten himself into a tug-of-war with Kakashi on the newspaper the dog had in his mouth. So engrossed he was trying to death-glare the mutt into giving up that he almost missed Naruto's soft question.  
  
"Nukenin? What's that?"  
  
Almost jumping out of his skin, Sasuke let go of his hold on the newspaper in shock and almost stumbled into the sharp end of the table behind him. He stopped himself just in time and breathed to calm himself down. "I told you to stop that!" He snapped at Naruto, who was oblivious to the malice behind the tone, having been the target of much worse speech. The blond simply grinned and stuck his tongue out.  
  
"I wasn't doing it on purpose, stupid," he stated matter-of-factly, "And Kakashi is Kakashi! What else should I name him? What is this Nukenin thing you were talking about anyway?"  
  
As if in response, Kakashi barked once, and the papers he held clamped in his mouth rolled messily onto the floor.  
  
Then he proceeded to slobber Sasuke, before the boy could dignify Naruto with a response.  
  
"Uwaaah!!" The morose teen swat at the silver dog. "Naruto, stop laughing and get your stupid dog off me before I really kill you!"  
  
The threat, of course, flew over Naruto's head.  
  
"But he loves you!" Naruto managed to say in between guffaws. "Kakashi hardly ever slobbers anyone else, so you should feel honoured!"  
  
Stuck between wanting to shoot a reply and trying to pry Kakashi's paw off his face, Sasuke settled for a grunt of disapproval. Can't have all the passers-by running down to the house because he was making too much noise now, can he?  
  
Eventually, after Naruto had enough fun making fun of Sasuke, he commanded, "Okay, Kakashi, I think that's about enough."  
  
That one sentence was all Naruto needed to back to zealous mutt away, and Sasuke scrambled as far as he could from the dog as he possibly could. He was still trying to get rid of the extra drool on his face when Naruto sat down beside him with a loud plop.  
  
The darker-haired teen stared questioningly at his companion, who grinned and held up a full page newspaper article in his face. "See this, see this?" The blond pointed randomly. "That's you on the page, isn't it?"  
  
Sasuke had to lean further out to be able to properly look at whatever Naruto was so excitedly trying to show him. Sharingan or not, you just couldn't read anything that was barely a centimetre away from your eyes! When he did, however, his exasperation turned into cold, chilling shock. He quickly snatched the page away from Naruto and stared hard at it as he held it in his own hands, not realising that they were trembling.  
  
After dissecting and concluding whatever he may from the blurry picture, Sasuke proceeded to read the article in full, not pausing to even acknowledge Naruto, who had been chattering by his ear to no avail. Eventually realising this himself, Naruto snorted and turned to Kakashi instead. "So you guys didn't kill each other. Phew! Where's Itachi, anyway?"  
  
Sasuke's head shot up straight upon hearing that word. "Itachi?!" He gave a clear cry of disbelief, the news in his hands long forgotten. "He's here? Where is he?! Tell me!"  
  
Shocked by Sasuke's sudden outburst, Naruto was unsure of what to say in reply. Before either of the humans could take another blink, however, the door slowly and gently swung open, to reveal the sleek-furred black cat sauntering his way into the room, not even turning an eye to glance at the scene. He did, however, stop in front of Sasuke and took a few experimental sniffs at his toes. Then, as if on a whim, he rubbed once against the boy's ankle and then disappeared into the kitchen.  
  
Sasuke turned to Naruto for an explanation, and the blond grinned. "That," he pointed in the general direction of the kitchen, "was Itachi."  
  
After a short pause, Sasuke slumped his shoulders in defeat. "I give up. Please tell me you don't also have a hamster called Orochimaru." He glanced up at the wide-eyed look on Naruto's face and gasped. "No... you /do/ have a hamster called Orochimaru!?"  
  
"NO!" Naruto's horrified answer seemingly appeased the nearly petrified Sasuke. "Orochimaru is such a sucky name! And what's so wrong with Kakashi or Itachi anyway?"  
  
"Nothing, moron, except that they're both names of S-class Nukenin who abandoned the village at around the same time!" The raven-haired boy shook his head, and beside him, Kakashi shook his head in mock imitation as well. "I'm surprised no one's tried any dispelling Jutsu on them yet."  
  
The blond was rendered silent yet again, as Sasuke frowned at the entity of silver fur beside him, possibly wondering if he should activate his Sharingan to check again, just to be sure.  
  
Finally, Naruto asked quietly, "This 'Nukenin' thingie you keep talking about... do you mean like, ninjas who have abandoned their loyalties or something? That's why they're 'Abandoners?'"  
  
Sasuke took a break from staring in distrust at Kakashi to look in Naruto's direction. "Something like that," he gruffly replied, then added quickly, "Or they could have been ninjas who left their villages for their own personal reasons. Whether or not the committee thinks their reason to be justified is another matter altogether, of course."  
  
"Ooh..." Naruto's eyes were brimming with curiosity. "That's so cool and everything!"  
  
Sasuke shot Kakashi a warning glare when he saw the dog about to jump on him to maul him again, then said to Naruto, "How can you not know about these things when you're living here?"  
  
"Well excuse me, genius," Naruto pouted angrily at the taller boy, "It's not like we have ninjas walking around here every day, you know?"  
  
Sasuke blinked in genuine surprise at Naruto's words, then simmered down before he asked anything else. This was too strange, even for him. It was like Naruto lived in another world altogether. Perhaps he would have more time to figure it out later, but right now, his priority was getting out fast, and without being noticed. "Whatever," he rolled his eyes to indicate that he wanted to give no more thought about the entire ninja fiasco. "Since you have better knowledge of this area than I do, care to tell me what you think my chances for getting out without getting caught are?"  
  
In the meantime, Naruto had gotten hold of the newspapers which Sasuke had not finished reading and was staring at the picture, then at Sasuke. "You sure you're not this guy in the pic?" He asked tentatively, pointing at the grainy photograph.  
  
Sasuke sighed loudly. "Do you want me to be?" He asked pointedly.  
  
"Of course not!" Naruto's response was lightning fast.  
  
"Then why do you keep asking?!"  
  
"I just wanted to make sure that I'm not letting a murderer stay in my house! I don't wanna die before I become the strongest ninja in the world!"  
  
"Hah."  
  
"Whaat?! What was that sound of disbelief there, Sasuke?! You don't believe that I meant what I said?" Naruto angrily confronted his companion, who smirked and crossed his arms.  
  
"Not like that you're not," Sasuke taunted. "What do you know besides chakra control? None, right? The strongest ninja in the world must know up to thousands of Jutsu, and they need to have trained from a very young age to acquire mastery of those skills. Anyway I see it, you don't seem to qualify. How do you propose on becoming the strongest with just one or two Jutsu, even if you do have excellent chakra control?"  
  
All the time Sasuke spoke, Naruto listened with clenched fists. Nobody had /ever/ dissed his dream before. True, the lack of reaction on the villagers' part was probably because they didn't care any two way about it. But Naruto had slowly began to associate that sort of reaction with grudging recognition, and he hung on to it like a lifeline. Now, suddenly, without warning, there was this stranger, who could very well be a murderer, who stood by the inner walls of his house and callously dismissed Naruto's carefully built up walls like they never existed in the first place.  
  
Naruto was pissed.  
  
And for the first time in his life,  
  
felt very alive.  
  
"I may only know one Jutsu," the trembling voice of the blond drifted into the Uchiha's ears, and he tensed at the sudden influx of strange chakra he could feel vibrating from Naruto. "But it's more than enough," he looked up, a fierce, determined grin plastered on his face, "to deal with a ball of slime like you!"  
  
Sasuke opened his mouth to protest, but was drowned out by the enigmatic words that followed.  
  
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"  
  
  
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True to Naruto's predictions, one Jutsu was truly all that was needed to defeat Sasuke. It was very hard to win, after all, if you had 50 clones of the exact same person stacked ceiling high against the one of you. Whether you were shinobi or not did not matter. Sasuke was still cursing and swearing at Naruto with all the most creative names he could think of when a familiar sounding voice cut through their tirade.  
  
"NARUTO!!!!"  
  
Both Naruto and Sasuke paused and turned to look at the entrance of the house, where a dark silouette against with the full glories of the morning sun spilling into the room from behind him. Naruto gulped and looked frightened, whereas all Sasuke could do was wince at the sunlight. Now where had he heard that voice before?  
  
He found out before long, for Iruka stormed into the house with a vein threatening to burst from his forehead, promptly grabbing the real Naruto from amongst all his clones and pulling at his cheeks. "You fool! How many times do I have to tell you to get it through that thick head of yours that you CANNOT pull a Jutsu unless in absolutely emergencies?! What if it was someone else who was walking about? Do you know what you have done?!"  
  
"But... but Iruka-sensei..." Naruto managed in between wheezes of air, "... it /was/ an emergency! I was trying to chase a stupid cockroach out of my house! The situation called for it!"  
  
"A gazillion clones for a single cockroach?!" Iruka continued to pull at the blond's cheeks, wider this time. "I'd like to see how /big/ this cockroach is exactly to need such an amount!"  
  
"Don't listen to the idiot, Iruka-sensei," a strangely familiar, yet dark and foreboding voice halted Iruka from torturing Naruto any further. The academy teacher cum spy on a mission looked downwards to see an unhappy looking Sasuke, stacked against the floor with countless Naruto clones, staring at him unhappily. "I'm not a cockroach. So please ask this moron to get his equally moronic doubles off me?" Sasuke continued smoothly, when he was sure he had Iruka's full attention.  
  
Naruto's desperate and frantic yelling was all that was really keeping Iruka from just fainting there and then on the spot.  
  
  
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Several cups of hot, scalding, boiled water later (Naruto hardly stocked tea, after all), Iruka slammed his mug onto the wooden table and eyed the two younglings before him with his best school-teacher, accusing look.  
  
Naruto tried very hard not to burst into tears there and then, whereas Sasuke was looking at anything but at Iruka in the face. Kakashi and Itachi were standing somewhere near the kitchen doorway, looking on at the scene with great interest.  
  
After a few mind-numbing seconds later, Iruka rose to full height slowly and deliberately. He circled the duo carefully, still looking at them with clear disapproval. It was almost hypnotical, and to Sasuke, this was a familiar movement. He'd seen Iruka do it in class so often that he could more or less mimick the action already. What he had never expected, however, was that he would one day be the target of this intense scrutiny - outside of the Academy, too. He winced, not daring to move too much for fear of being swallowed whole by the teacher. Adults were scary!  
  
The raven-haired boy almost breathed a sigh of relief when Iruka's attention settled eventually on the blond beside him. "Naruto," the Chuunin was saying, reprimanding tone evident. "Maybe /you/ would like to tell me what was happening between the two of you before I came?"  
  
"It wasn't my fault!" Was Naruto's immediate response, causing Sasuke to wince further. He briefly wondered if Naruto was deaf to shout so loudly all the time, before finding himself the target of a Naruto Finger Point. "This bastard here snuck into my house in the middle of the night and wouldn't leave no matter how hard I tried to ask him to! OOH!! Iruka-sensei, you don't know this, but he's actually a cruel, selfish, red-eyed bastard who goes around killing villagers in the middle of the night!" He stuck his tongue out at Sasuke, who threw him a what-are-you-talking-about glare. "He was about to eat me for breakfast! That's why I had to use the Kage Bunshin to stop him! See? It was an emergency, Iruka-sensei!"  
  
To Sasuke's horror, Iruka nodded at Naruto's absurd retelling of events. He was about to protest when Iruka said, "Thank you for your most compelling story, Naruto," he frowned through his smile when Naruto grinned at what he thought was a compliment, then reached out and whacked Naruto over the head, on the exact same spot Sasuke had been whacking prior, causing the blond to yell in pain and the Uchiha to chuckle. "I was not complimenting you, Naruto! And Sasuke!!" The Chuunin's attention turned to the raven-haired boy, who stiffened and looked up like with his best fearful schoolboy impersonation. Of course he knew it wouldn't work on the hardened teacher, who had seen all kinds of puppy-eyes there were out there, but he had to try anyway!  
  
"Yes?" He managed to say, amidst fears that he was going to be skinned alive and hung upside down on the large oak tree outside - muscle, tendon and all, to dry while Iruka prepared a slow fire to roast him over. It wasn't impossible. He /had/ heard Iruka threaten to do that to Shikamaru once and he still shuddered at the flood of images it introduced to his imagination. He just hoped it wasn't as painful as it sounded.  
  
"I wonder how /your/ version of story would sound like?" Iruka smiled sweetly and asked.  
  
But Sasuke was not fooled. He had seen that smile and heard that sweet tone before, usually just prior to Iruka belting out punishments of various intensity to the class of wayward ninjas. He gulped and quickly responded, "I was passing by, sensei. Then all of a sudden there were two Jounin on my tail, screaming bloody murder for something I had no idea about. So I slipped into the only house along this stretch of road that seemed empty enough to hide. Hadn't counted on meeting an idiot, but that's besides the point. I can't go out now or I'll be caught and tortured for a crime I didn't know I did. But I did promise the moron I'd leave by tonight and not be of too much trouble, so please don't believe whatever he just said about me eating children for breakfast."  
  
Iruka nodded and made a grunt of approval. He turned to Naruto, who was still rubbing the sore spot on his head and said, "Now that was at least believable. You should learn from Sasuke, Naruto!"  
  
The blond boy stuck his tongue out to indicate what he thought about 'learning from Sasuke,' and Sasuke found himself privately amused at the action.  
  
"But Iruka-sensei!" Naruto glanced around the room, then dived towards a stray page of newspaper, hurrying to pass it to Iruka while continuing, "Look at the picture! It really is him!"  
  
Iruka took one look at the photograph, took another look at Sasuke, and delivered yet another whack upside the head to Naruto. "Are your eyes for decoration only, Naruto?! Look carefully at the picture! Do you think Sasuke has hair that long? Do you see the same sunken scars below the eyes on Sasuke? Can't you tell that this man's build and height is entirely different? What have I always told you about never believing what the tabloids print or say? Where have you /been/ when I taught you all these, Uzumaki Naruto?! For punishment," the Chuunin breathed, "you're going to run all the way to the village chief's house and borrow some salt from him!"  
  
"EEEH!?" Naruto cried. "But the village chief lives on the /other/ side of the village! The marketplace is so much closer and it sells salt too! Why-"  
  
"Enough questions!" Iruka roared and pointed at the door. "Do as I say or no ramen today!"  
  
"YES, SIR!" The boy was out of the house in a whirl of yellow and orange before anyone could blink.  
  
"And remember I want salt, not sugar!!!" Iruka continued to bellow at the rapidly vanishing figure of Naruto.  
  
Sasuke realised after a while that he was gawking and gaping, and that gawking and gaping was rude but he just couldn't help it. It took a while before he noticed that Iruka had turned around and was looking at him, but when he did, he snapped to attention immediately and looked back, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his cheek.  
  
"Sasuke," Iruka's tone was unflinching and unreadable. Sasuke cringed reflexively.  
  
And as quickly as he had tensed, he relaxed, when Iruka broke into a warm, gentle smile.  
  
"It's been a while."  
  
  
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Kakashi and Itachi had joined Sasuke and Iruka at the table, where they had settled down upon in hopes of 'catching up' with one another. In reality, all that had happened was that they moved from a standing position to a sitting position. Nothing else was said except for a few cordial greetings about life and such, and the deathly hush threatened to drag on for a longer time had Kakashi not leapt onto the table and settled down as if to sleep there.  
  
"Get off the table, Kakashi!" Iruka slapped the dog once on his hind thigh. The dog howled but refused to budge. Iruka was about to physically haul the dog off the table when Sasuke's sudden question stopped him.  
  
"Is his name really Kakashi?"  
  
The Chuunin paused to consider that question for a while. He laughed eventually and replied, "Oh, yes. I didn't believe it at first either, but that's what Naruto decided to name him. And before you ask, yes, the cat is Itachi."  
  
Sasuke looked at his twiddling thumbs and huffed. "Only an idiot like him could have named his pets after S-class Nukenin."  
  
"It's just a name," Iruka laughed, resignation evident in his tone. Then, in a more serious voice, he continued, "Sasuke - I hope you've not forgotten that you're a Nukenin too. I have every duty to apprehend and drag you back to the village myself, and I probably will try to do so - but I'm curious." He smiled reassuringly at Sasuke, who was growing paler and paler with every passing second, eyes darting about furtively as if for a place to hide. "You haven't changed much from since the Academy - and that means you're still a kind, gentle boy at heart. Why did you injure the ANBU and abandon the village? The committee are still trying to class your rank of crime, but seeing how you defeated the ANBU team with such ease..." Iruka shook his head. "I'm afraid you're on your way to becoming yet another one of Konoha's S-class Nukenin, Sasuke."  
  
The Uchiha bit his lip nervously, noticing unhappily that Itachi the cat now sat beside him, looking up at him with eyes of curiosity. "I'm not abandoning the village, sensei," Sasuke began, "I tried to tell people that, but nobody would listen to me. Since nobody would give me permission to leave, then I thought I might as well just leave by myself. I hadn't counted on things becoming so big a deal, but I don't care. Nobody can stop me from doing what I want to do."  
  
Iruka chuckled. "You can't blame the committee for being so cautious, Sasuke. The last thing they need after ten years of unease is yet another powerful Uchiha abandoning the village, after all."  
  
Sasuke scoffed. "I've been stuck as a Chuunin for years, sensei," he reminded the man.  
  
The Academy teacher looked amused. "Is that what this is all about?"  
  
"Of course not!" Sasuke barked, then shrunk back into his seat, surprised at his own outburst. "Of course not..." he repeated, a little more subdued, but stubborn nonetheless. "I wanted to go look for Aniki... but nobody would give me permission. I tried for years to convince people that I was capable enough, but nobody gave a damn. They said... they actually said that the village was better off without powerful, S-class criminals like him. But!" Sasuke clenched his fists and his Sharingan swarmed out without him really realising it. "But Aniki wasn't! Aniki wasn't like that! Aniki had a bright future ahead of him... he wouldn't give it all up just like that! He was the obvious heir to the Uchiha Clan, he had everything and everybody for him! I... I didn't... I really didn't understand why." He sighed, unclenching his fists and looking away from his ex-teacher. "I looked up to him too. He was everything I ever wanted to be..."  
  
Iruka had a look of sympathy across his face, and he couldn't help but say, "It must have been difficult for you."  
  
Sasuke tensed visibly at those words. "That night when he left without a word?" He managed to smile thinly despite his rigidness. "He had promised me that he'd practice shuriken throwing with me the next morning. I waited the whole day for him to show up but he never did. Then I found out that he'd officially abandoned the village." The smile turned into a frown. "I didn't believe it. I still don't. There must be something... some reason behind his sudden departure. But nobody thought the same way I did. Even Father and Mother commented that Aniki had always been strange. So I thought I would find out and prove them all wrong, but..." He sighed and buried his face in his hands.  
  
"But there was too much red tape to cut to get to that stage officially, right?" Iruka prompted. Sasuke nodded dumbly.  
  
"I had to become ANBU before I could qualify for Oinin," the boy further clarified. "But the powers that be in the village just refused to let me rise to Jounin before I was 16. They said they didn't need anymore bigots flooding the ranks and then abandoning the village when it was convenient. They wouldn't listen to whatever I wanted to say, so finally," Sasuke looked up, and this time, straight at Iruka in the face, "I thought I'd submit my reason for departure, regardless of whether they approved or not, and leave the village on my own mission." A pause. "Sakura tried to dissuade me," the boy grudgingly admitted, looking back to the floor, "but nobody can stop me. I'll find Aniki if it's the last thing I do." He eyed his Academy teacher carefully. "And that means you too, sensei. I don't want to hurt you, so please don't-... try to stop me."  
  
Iruka's eyes turned soft. "And what will you do," he asked quietly. "after you find him?"  
  
"..." The boy was without speech for a while. "I don't know," he finally sighed. "I just... I just feel like it's the right thing to do. Aniki wasn't like that... wasn't like that at all." He bowed his head. "Maybe I'll know, when I eventually do find him, wherever he is, but now..."  
  
The long, brooding silence that proceeded to hang above the duo, as they each got lost in their own thoughts, was broken only by the rambunctious shouting of the one and only Uzumaki Naruto.  
  
The first indication that he was back was when loud, unabiding footsteps suddenly became clearer and clearer. Then the door swung noisily open and a blur of yellow ducked in. The next thing that happened was that a sack with the words 'SALT' marked clearly across in red landed with loud, sandy sounds on the table that Iruka and Sasuke were seated at, surprising them both. Then finally, Naruto's head popped out from behind the sack and he grinned. "Mission accomplished, Iruka-sensei! Enough salt to last us a lifetime! Then, then," he began bouncing excitedly around the oldest person in the room, "Does that mean I'll get a lifetime supply of ramen too? Will I? Will I?"  
  
Iruka smiled and ruffled the boy's head. "I'll think about it!" He gave an encouraging pat. "But in the meantime, how about some miso ramen for lunch for all of us?"  
  
"YES!!" Naruto leapt into the air and danced for joy. "Miso ramen, miso ramen!" He immediately dived into the kitchen in a whirlwind of activity, setting the kettle to boil and pulling assorted cutlery out from cabinets. Sasuke could feel his eyebrow twitching, even as he pointed and asked Iruka, "Why do you even bother?"  
  
The Chuunin shrugged. "We all have different missions in life to complete, Sasuke," he put a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. "But before that, let's all have a nice meal together, eh? Can't do anything on an empty stomach, shinobi or not!" He grinned, removing his hand and heading in the direction of the kitchen to help Naruto out.  
  
"Sensei," Sasuke blurted before Iruka completely vanished from sight. The man turned around questioningly, and Sasuke continued, "You still owe me an explanation for the real story behind this part of Konoha - and why that moron is so completely out of it." His eyes narrowed. "You /will/ tell me, won't you?"  
  
Iruka's smile faltered, and he considered the situation carefully, waiting for a long time before replying, with a bitter-sweet smile, "I might, Sasuke - if you promise me something."  
  
Taken in by the suspense, the boy arched an eyebrow expectantly.  
  
  
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That night, Naruto and Sasuke were alone again, when Iruka left before dinner time and ordered them both to get along, or else! Neither boys wanted to test the theory behind the words, and had agreed very quickly with plastered smiles and happy waves.  
  
They stood, shoulder to shoulder, staring down the path Iruka had last been walking in, long after they could no longer make out the vague shape of the Chuunin. Before he had left, Iruka had slipped a an envelope to Sasuke, exhorting him to read it only when he was alone and only when he felt he was ready to find out about a secret that would perhaps change his perspective of Konoha and life as a ninja considerably. He had kept it hidden in his sleeve and wondered if he really wanted to know.  
  
"Hey, Sasuke," the subdued, awe-struck voice of Naruto brought him back from trying to make a tough decision, and he glanced questioningly at his counterpart. "Don't you just love sunsets?" The boy breathed, glancing at the large ball of orange light washing the surroundings anew with its soft, orange glow.  
  
The raven-haired boy peered carefully at Naruto, decided that the boy was hardly joking, before admitting with a shrug, "I've never really stopped to take a good look at it."  
  
"What?! No way!" Naruto turned to face Sasuke with shock. "Where have you been all your life to be missing out on sunsets?!"  
  
The boy sighed. "I've been training and doing ninja stuff, obviously," he shook his head. "Things /you/ obviously are dying to want to do."  
  
"Stop saying it like you think it's impossible!" Naruto flailed his arms wildly and screeched. "You're so going to be eating your words when I kick your ass!"  
  
"With what, the Kage Bunshin again?" Sasuke snorted. "If you think it'll work against me for a second time, I'd advise you to think again."  
  
"You're just saying it because you're unhappy you lost!" Naruto shouted in glee and made the hand seals without really thinking about it. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!!"  
  
The lonely stretch of road leading to Naruto's house quickly began to fill up with multiple echos of Narutos getting beaten up and disappearing into puffs of smoke. The pseudo village was so used to the amount of noise coming from Naruto's house that it didn't bother them any more. In fact, it would have been scarier if there were no noise coming from Naruto's house.  
  
Therefore, the duo spent the entire evening locked in uninterrupted combat, the conclusion of which was not reached until the moon hung shyly in the inky black skies, her twinkling friends clustering around her. Like an attentive audience, they cast their pearly white glows across the landscape, and in particular, upon a couple of teenagers who had yet to retire for the night in the safety of the house behind them. Currently, Naruto was lying face up and spread eagle on the grass of his backyard, panting and wheezing away, face dirtied and clothes in no better condition. Somewhere nearby, Sasuke stood impassively against the glow of the moonlight, breathing audibly but not as out of air as the blond was.  
  
They were silent only for a while more, before Sasuke spoke up, "That was pretty good for someone who only knows one Jutsu," he calmly stated, ignoring the large grin on Naruto's face.  
  
"Hahah!" Naruto was saying, amidst attempts to catch his breath, "I got the bastard to praise me! I'm good!! I'm the strongest!"  
  
"Pah," Sasuke turned his head to one side. "Your measuring scale for strength must be really way out of tune. You can't even beat me one on one!"  
  
"Are you trying to go back on your words, Sasuke?" There was a sly edge to Naruto's tone. "You /said/ I was good! Don't deny it! I heard it! Kakashi and Itachi heard it too, right? You guys heard it too, didn't you?" Naruto struggled onto his hands and knees and shot the observing animals a grin. They had been standing by the large oak tree, side by side, observing the fight from since it began.  
  
Kakashi barked.  
  
Itachi mewled.  
  
"See? They heard it too, so you can't deny it, Sasuke! I'm good!" The boy was now up on his feet entirely, bouncing about to the sound of an inaudible victory anthem.  
  
"Dammit! You knew better than to encourage the idiot!" Sasuke growled at the animals, who simply stared at him. "Ah man, what I am doing, talking to animals..." the boy caught onto his mouth with a hand and began walking towards the jubilant Naruto, who was still dancing away. As soon as he was out of sight and sound, Kakashi turned to Itachi and grinned his doggy grin again.  
  
In response, Itachi slapped him with a kitty paw.  
  
  
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"Naruto," Sasuke called out, when he decided that the blond was in hearing distance. The shorter boy stopped his flurry of movement and looked back at Sasuke when he heard his name.  
  
"What?" He asked, when Sasuke took a little too long to respond.  
  
The Uchiha cursed softly and looked away. He really wanted to walk away, but he could not go back upon what he had promised Iruka. This was such a bother. He hoped it was really worth his time. "Are you serious about becoming a ninja?"  
  
The effect this question had on the boy was that of immediate silence. Naruto looked carefully at Sasuke with narrowed eyes, determination shining through his clear, blue irises. A cool, night breeze ran through the two of them, but neither responded to the chill, being too engrossed with trying to read each other's expressions instead. Finally, the blond quirked a smile and said, "I'm about as serious as you are on finding your brother, Sasuke."  
  
The boy froze, then frowned with taut shoulders. "You heard." The tone was neither accusing nor threatening - a mere simple statement of fact.  
  
Naruto grinned. He held out his thumb and index finger and said, "Only this much, though. Then I had to run a far distance away to barge in like the noisy idiot I am. Gotta maintain an image in front of Iruka-sensei, after all!"  
  
Sasuke remained unamused. "Why bother if you have to go to such lengths?"  
  
The grin on Naruto's face softened into a wistful smile. "I don't want Iruka-sensei to worry. He's always worrying over this and worrying over that. I don't think I want to one day find out that I've worried him to sickness over something. He's the only person who matters to me in this whole village. So if he feels more reassured when Naruto is happy and bouncing away, then I'll put up this act for all my life just to get him to not worry." The boy glanced up tentatively at the Uchiha, a look of doubt vaguely crossing over his features. "I don't care if you think I'm stupid or not, but don't you dare tell Iruka-sensei! I'll kill you! I swear I will!"  
  
"I look forward to the day when you actually can," Sasuke drawled lazily, causing the unusually calm Naruto to quickly and rapidly return to his usually riled up moods. "You have most of the basics of chakra down pat, but you can't even use it into a proper Jutsu. Genjutsu and Ninjutsu aside, your Taijutsu sucks too." The teen shook his head. "I /really/ look forward to the day when you can actually say you tried to kill me."  
  
"Argh! You selfish, arrogant, ego-bruising no-good bastard!" Naruto yelled, not caring if the entire village heard him or not. "It's your life mission to make me angry, isn't it?! It's your life mission to step on every single nerve I have left remaining after spending all my life in this sad excuse of a village of abuse, isn't it?! Crush whatever dinghy little hope I've had for acceptance since the day I was born; blow out any flame of existence I've been clutching on in these dark times... you just exist to make me feel bad, isn't that right, Uchiha Sasuke? I'm telling you I'm not gonna take your shit anymore than I have to so just PLEASE tell me why the hell are you being so holier-than-thou?! Or are you /always/ such a cactus? Do you live to hurt? Do you-"  
  
"NARUTO!!" The blond was taken aback by the sudden facial close-up of the one Uchiha Sasuke, followed by a rough grab of the scruff of his collar, and boy did Sasuke look pissed. Still holding that pose, Sasuke snarled, "Will you just shut up and listen for a moment?!" He didn't wait for the blond's response, continuing quickly, "I really /do/ think you're a stupid moron who can't do anything right! And I really do want to make your life miserable because, oh hell, because /you/ get on /my/ nerves! If you got a problem with that, then too bad for you. The world doesn't bloody belong to you and you can be sure not everybody's going to be doing things the way you want them to. If you're going to react the way you do to me everytime you see someone like that, then you're going to lose your voice faster than I can say 'dead-last.' And when that day comes, I'll be laughing at you from wherever I may be at and popping confetti at your plight. Because you deserved it! Now get your head out of the well and look at reality, brainless!"  
  
After his resounding speech, Sasuke released his hold on Naruto's collar and pushed the other, slightly stunned boy backwards. Naruto stumbled twice, then fell onto the ground in a sit, blinking in bright-eyed wonder.  
  
The darker-haired boy immediately brought a hand up to cover his mouth, even as he looked away with stark surprise evident in his eyes. "Dammit, what the hell was I thinking, arguing with an idiot like that..." He stole a quick glance at Naruto, noticing that the boy had not moved from his position on the grass since stumbling onto it, and that he had not averted his eyes away from gaping at Sasuke either. "What?" The Uchiha asked with annoyance in his voice. "Cat got your tongue?"  
  
The wide-eyed, wondering look on Naruto's face quickly dissolved and was replaced with a scowl. "Shut up, you!" Naruto growled, although Sasuke could not detect any real malice behind it. "Why are you still here? I thought you said you were leaving by tonight." The blond added, almost as an afterthought.  
  
"I was going to, until I realised that I couldn't, if I wanted to keep my promise to someone we both know." The Uchiha gave a vague, all-encompassing, non-committal reply. This caused Naruto's head to tilt in confusion, but before the blond could say anything, Sasuke continued, "So are you serious about being a ninja anyway?"  
  
"I already answered that, amnesiac-Sasuke," Naruto stuck his tongue out at his companion, who rolled his eyes and scoffed. The boy then used the pause to clamber slowly to his feet, dusting the soil and broken grass off his pants. "Why do you keep asking anyway?"  
  
"It's your dream, right?" Sasuke mumbled half-heartedly. "We have to start from somewhere, I suppose..."  
  
"Your words don't make any sense whatsoever, Sasuke," Naruto remarked blandly.  
  
"Probably not to you," Sasuke shrugged and did not bother to explain. He then started heading back the direction of the house.  
  
"Hey!" Naruto shouted for attention when Sasuke brushed by him without a word. "Hey hey hey!" He continued to shout, seeing how none of his solicitations for attention were getting any response. He turned and ran after the darker-haired boy quickly, pouting. "Does this mean you're going to continue leeching ramen off me?! Why the hell aren't you leaving? Come on, give me a straight, easy-to-understand answer! Sasuke!!"  
  
The darker-haired teen stopped in mid-step and turned around to give Naruto a look of semi-veiled exasperation. "Because Iruka-sensei..." He was about to finish his sentence when a thought struck him and made him shut up. He looked to a side and frowned at his slip of tongue. That was really close!  
  
"Iruka-sensei?" Naruto, however, was not about to let it go so easily. "What has Iruka-sensei got to do with any of this?" The blond had sounded offended. "Come on, don't just keep staring and holding your mouth with your hand! Talk to me, hey!"  
  
Sasuke did remove his hand from his mouth, and he scowled angrily at the ball of blond energy beside him, waiting expectantly with uprised clenched fists and hunched shoulders for his response. He had never, ever, met a boy like that in his life before, and he hoped never, ever to meet someone like that again. This was impossible! What was Iruka-sensei thinking when he asked Sasuke for a favour like that?  
  
"Listen idiot," Sasuke leaned in closer to the blond and narrowed his eyes, hoping to frighten him into a more submissive mood. Of course, trying to keep snowballs above a roaring campfire frozen might have been easier, for Naruto narrowed his eyes right back in defiance. Sasuke sighed inwardly. "Just think about it from my standpoint for a while if you can. There's a serial murderer on the loose, and he's killed tons of people in the past few years alone - enough to make any ANBU ashamed of themselves. He's managed to stay hidden from the villagers out for his blood for revenge so far, until finally, someone manages to take a picture of him. Said picture then gets splashed across the bulletin boards and papers. Now here comes the important part, listen carefully," Sasuke breathed, ignoring the hidden look of awe on Naruto's face.  
  
"The damned bugger looks. Just. Like. Me! Me! An innocent passer-by! Me! Right down to the red Sharingan, too! So while I was trying to get myself a drink on a nearby road stall somebody sounded the alarm. Before I knew it, they've despatched two Jounins to pursue me, with lots more coming as reinforcement some time later. Now. Imagine for a moment you were me. You're running from some people who obviously won't hesitate to slaughter you on sight if you even resist. You dive into a house for sanctuary and miracles of miracles, manage to get some. Now..." Sasuke lifted a finger in a school-teacher way, much like how he saw Iruka used to always do in class to get the children's attention. "Will you leave immediately and attempt to go away, when security is tight and the people are edgy and on the lookout? Or would you rather stay for a while, until the tension eases and people no longer keep an active lookout for you to try to throw you into prison? Which would it be?"  
  
"Of course I'll stay out of danger first!" Naruto folded his arms across his chest and closed his eyes in exasperation. "Which moron would dive head first into danger and put his life on the line if he can solve it by simply waiting for the issue to pass over quietly? I know /I/ certainly won't!"  
  
There was a short period of silence after Naruto's answer, during which Sasuke closely watched the boy for any indication that he had understood the problem at hand and was willing to give a helping hand. There was, unfortunately, none. Naruto stood in the same unbending pose and looked at Sasuke for a further debrief.  
  
This time, Sasuke groaned aloud. He looked at Naruto seriously in the eye and said, "Do you really understand the role you're playing here, Naruto?"  
  
Slightly thrown off track by the sudden question, Naruto unfolded his arms and let them drop to his side, while he blinked at Sasuke. "My role?" He repeated, not quite understanding.  
  
"I agree with you that it would be suicidal to be running around so soon again after the villagers were out for my blood," Sasuke slowly started again. "Therefore the best solution is to lie low until the situation blows over, right?" He waited for Naruto's response, which came in the form of a nod. "Where do you think I can 'lie low' in, seeing that I don't live in this part of the village, neither do I have friends here?"  
  
"No shit about that you anti-social megalomaniac," Naruto replied instantly, still looking at Sasuke in the eye. "And as for lying low, that's easy! You can stay at my house, right? You've been staying at my house all this time, though that doesn't necessarily mean I like it any better than you do...- oh, wait. Oh. Oooooh." The light finally dawned upon the blond and he stepped one small step backwards with soft gasps of revelation.  
  
The raven-haired boy did not bother to rub it in this time, choosing instead to ask, "You said it yourself lying low is the best solution. The problem is, however, that I need your cooperation. I hope I don't need to elaborate anymore than that. You have the final say, Naruto. This is your house, after all."  
  
There was a tone of finality in Sasuke's voice, even as his mind raced to form contingency plans for what he knew was an inevitable boot out of his present sanctuary by Naruto. They hadn't exactly started off on the right foot, after all, and they had only known each other for a day. Naruto doubtlessly still harboured suspicions about Sasuke's innocence, as he had boldly declared time and again.  
  
And Sasuke noticed that as he pondered his thoughts over and over again, Naruto remained an expressionless lump of human flesh staring at him without moving in the slightest bit. The Uchiha sighed. "Whatever it is, I just wanted to say thanks for putting up with me for a night and a day. I hope you'll manage to fulfill your drea-"  
  
His well-wishes were curtailed when Naruto's hands shot out and grabbed him by the dark fabric of his shirt, pulling him slightly closer. Giving a small yelp of protest, Sasuke quickly found himself staring into the clear, blue eyes of an innocent, expectant child. These were the eyes of a child trapped in a world of apathy for so long that very few things had mattered anymore. A child whose eyes reflected the fierce protectiveness of an adult, but also the pure emotions of inexperience. Right now, this child was open and unguarded - he had something on his mind and a question on his lips that would make or break. Clutching the dark-haired ninja's shirt tighter, Naruto mouthed quietly, "Do you mean it?"  
  
"M-mean what? Sasuke stuttered slightly under the strong look Naruto was throwing in his direction at a close distance.  
  
"That you..." Naruto continued, eyes steely yet frightened at the same time. "... That you need my cooperation... that... that I'm needed to help you... help you... that I'm needed?" The boy's determination to remain calm and composed wavered at his final words.  
  
Sasuke stared for a moment, then shrugged himself free from Naruto's grasp. "I don't know what you're getting so amazed at about," he flatly commented, dusting the front of his shirt in an attempt to distract himself from his heart, still rapidly beating at the close encounter just now. "But just in case your dumb retard ears didn't hear it right the first time..."  
  
He breathed.  
  
"... I'm on the run for a crime I didn't do. I swear I'm not trying to kill anyone, nor am I trying to kill you. All I want to do is to cross the borders of the Fire country in one piece - hopefully not battered or bleeding in five or six places either, and that means I don't want any trouble. So I need your cooperation and your help to house me until the storm tides over. It seems like the most logical choice of action at the moment, but I'll be damned if I had to force you to agree to help me. That would probably mean I'd have to bind and gag you and sweep you under your bed or something. I think I'll feel better if I'd just ran out and risk getting caught if I had to stoop to /that/ level. And STOP gaping at me like that, you insufferable dimwit!" Sasuke finally shouted and used a finger to tap lightly at Naruto's vulnerable forehead. "I'm going now, okay?" The dark-haired shinobi sighed and turned, ready to disappear into the night.  
  
That is, until he noticed that he couldn't, when Naruto had a grip on his wrist as tight as that.  
  
"Oh no you don't," the sly grin was back in full force on Naruto's face, his previously deer-in-headlights expression disappearing into the vortext that was his stomach. Probably. "You come and disrupt my life for one whole day and night, and then you're gonna go away just like that?" There was something in the way Naruto had said the sentence that made Sasuke's hair stand on ends. "I don't think so, buster," the blond continued, and then quickly turned to the direction of his house, walking towards it, Sasuke's hand still in his grab.  
  
"Hey, wait-" Sasuke stumbled at the sudden pull but caught himself before he tripped. "What are you doing, moron?!"  
  
"Going home, stupid. Can't you tell?"  
  
"I can /see/ that very well, dimwit. Why the hell are you dragging me along then?"  
  
"Isn't that obvious? Because you're coming with me!"  
  
Silence.  
  
"/What??!/"  
  
"Oh for crying out loud, stop whining like a little girl, Sasuke! Or would you /really/ rather I boot you out and you face the wrath of the council waiting to skin you alive and shred your flesh into little shreds while you watch on?"  
  
"... no?"  
  
"Then shut up and just follow me."  
  
Another silence.  
  
"Why are you helping me?"  
  
The sounds of moving feet shuffled to a stop.  
  
Naruto looked up at the taller boy and grinned. Framed by the soft luminance of the moon, his face almost looked angelic. That was of course, until he spoke up.  
  
"Because you still owe me one. And the last time I did any spring cleaning was three years ago."  
  
The footsteps resumed walking.  
  
Painful silence.  
  
"... /I see./"  
  
  
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_"Be his friend, please?" Iruka smiled, while holding the envelope which he had slipped his narrative in between his fingers.  
  
Sasuke eyed the envelope cautiously, then blinked at the request. "Pardon me?" He eventually managed.  
  
"It's not as easy as it looks, Sasuke," Iruka's smile turned sad. "But if you do as I say, I'll not only tell you what I know - I'll even let you leave the village and pretend I never saw or heard anything." He beamed. "Good deal?"  
  
Noticing the hesitation in Sasuke's eyes, Iruka boldly stepped towards the younger ninja and lifted a hand of the boy, placing the envelope firmly into his palms.  
  
"It's not as easy as it looks, Sasuke," the ponytailed man repeated, this time with a stern countenance. "How many true friends have you ever had? Whom you could trust with your life? Trust with your darkest secrets?" He noticed the boy tense, and so shot him a reassuring smile. "If even for a boy like you an answer is so difficult, then..." The man looked once, wistfully, in the direction of the kitchen, where sounds of Naruto tussling with the cutlery could be heard. The trailing sentence never saw a completion, for he next said, "It's always better to have someone your age to share woe and weal with. Sasuke," a warm hand rested on the Uchiha's shoulder. "Treat it as a challenge, if you must."  
  
The boy narrowed his eyes in confusion at his former Academy teacher, even as Iruka took a few steps backwards to come in full view of his former student. The Chuunin smiled.  
  
"Be his friend, please?"  
_   
  
  
  
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Part 3 of 7  
17/5/2004  
tougenkyou . net / xd 


	4. Chapter Three

NARUTO © Kishimoto Masashi • Shueisha • Studio Pierrot • TV Tokyo. All rights reserved. Non-profit fun ahead! Fanfic named by Iruka.  
  
Warnings: Eventual fluffy friendship between the boys. Do not read if thou art not a fan of fluff!  
  
  
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Crossroads of Life  
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Chapter Three  
  
  
  
Neither Naruto nor Sasuke had taken it upon themselves to speak the words aloud, but it was fairly obvious by the next day when Iruka stepped in to the still messy, still dirty, and still untidy house of Naruto, that the blond had not quite meant what he said when he threatened to take the Uchiha in as a cleaning servant.  
  
Presently, as Iruka lifted a stinking sandal away from the doorway and flung it to the growing pile of dirty laundry by the corner of the house, he could tell that the house was void of human life. The man settled his wares down near the door and took some time to examine the wooden hut, coming to the conclusion that Naruto must have dragged Sasuke off somewhere in the morning. Laughing at the imagery, he sat down at the table, intending to plan how he could help Naruto out, even if slightly, with his household mess when a flash of silver from the corner of his eyes caught his attention.  
  
He turned, then smiled, holding out a hand to gesture the dog closer. "Kakashi! Home alone guarding the territory today, aren't we?" His smile widened when the dog obeyed and came near his outstretched hand, licking it in a friendly notion. After a while, the Chuunin decided that he had enough of wet tongues, and turned instead to patting the dog on his head, feeling good when the ruffled fur smoothened with his every stroke. Then, as if noticing something else, he glanced around the room purposefully. "Where's Itachi? You didn't chase him up the tree today again, did you?" He stared semi-suspiciously at the silver dog, who sat there panting away, neither denying nor agreeing to the accusation.  
  
The Chuunin rose to full height after a while, hands on his hips. He glanced at the door. "I guess there's only one way to find out! Might as well check the crops while I'm at it..." Mumbling to himself, Iruka exited the house into the front yard, followed closely by Kakashi.  
  
  
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Unbeknownst yet to the man, however, was that although Naruto and Sasuke were indeed out in the open together, they had also brought the black cat along with them - for covert help when necessary, had been Naruto's excuse.  
  
Currently, they were hiding behind a few barrels of water at the marketplace, observing the people as they walked to and fro. Naruto had a look of perverse pleasure on his face, while Sasuke found it increasingly difficult not to twitch.  
  
Finally, he whispered, "This is /not/ a good idea at all, Naruto."  
  
"Oh shut up, Sasuke. What do /you/ know about good ideas?" Was the happy response.  
  
"Enough to be able to conclude that this is a terrible mistake!" The boy barked at his companion, although he did it very quietly. "Are you nuts? These people are after me for my /life/! Are you really dying to get rid of me?"  
  
"Why are you so afraid?" Naruto snorted. "Just keep your eyes normal and they won't notice a thing. You're a /ninja/ for crying out loud, while these people are just commonsfolk like me. You can take 'em!"  
  
Sasuke sighed. "What I would give for a little of whatever you're taking for optimism..." he grumbled, shooting Naruto a dirty look while he was at it. "I can probably run away from a few of them, but not an entire group!" He shook his head. "Much less face them in a one on many fight in the middle of a bustling marketplace, hello? This village is packed with Jounins, in case you haven't noticed! This is why I needed to lie low, remember?" Sasuke's whispering got fiercer and fiercer with every word.  
  
"There are no ninjas in this village," Naruto frowned and scanned the crowd. "Why do you keep saying there are?"  
  
Taken aback, Sasuke paused to collect his thoughts. He had yet to read the contents of the envelope Iruka had passed him, choosing instead to keep it hidden and safe until he felt he was prepared to peek at it. True, Naruto had a point - when looking at the scene before him, Sasuke would agree that this was hardly a village of ninjas, deadly battles or hidden missives. But the fact that there were seemingly endless numbers of highly trained Jounins on his tail a couple of days ago remained deeply entrenched in his mind. He lowered his head in contemplative silence.  
  
After a while, Sasuke decided that there was something else on his mind he had to say. "Naruto..." he slowly began.  
  
"What is it? Can't you see I'm trying to pull a grand prank here?" The blond sounded offended, although he did not take his eyes off the streets.  
  
"... can you please take this cat away from me?"  
  
"Huh? What? Oh. Why? Itachi loves you!"  
  
"... No he does not. He's fidgeting and he's trying to dismember my fingers. I hardly call that love."  
  
"He's just playing with you. Don't be such a wussy. Itachi's just a harmless little kitty, ain't that right, Itachi?" Naruto finally tore his eyes away from the streets and looked at the black cat, tickling the thing under his chin. Itachi purred obligingly. Sasuke felt involuntary shivers run up his spine, as the words 'Itachi purred, Itachi purred, Itachi purred,' kept repeating themselves in his head.  
  
Noticing his companion's unease, Naruto elbowed Sasuke conspirationally and leaned in to whisper, "Cheer up, dude. We're gonna dump some water balloons on that stupid butcher who's always selling me bad meat. I haven't gotten him back for poisoning me into a week of sickness yet!" He heaved a self-righteous fist into mid-air, anger rolling off into his immediate vicinity. Sasuke sighed in exasperation. "Stop sighing, Sasuke!" Naruto jabbed the shinobi hard somewhere in his middle, causing him to almost double over at the well-executed, chakra-filled move. "You're the decoy! You're supposed to help me if I get caught!"  
  
Sasuke almost gagged into Itachi, who had stopped shifting around a while ago and now hung like a snug rug in Sasuke's arms. "And what am I supposed to do for a decoy then, O mastermind planner, /when/ you get caught?" Sasuke made doubly sure that the sarcasm dripped from every word he used.  
  
"Oh, that's easy," Naruto continued without losing his momentum, "You beat me up!"  
  
Sasuke could feel that even Itachi had frozen in his arms, in as much as he himself was struck cold by the statement. He slowly turned to face the sunshine-blond boy, donning what he hoped was a look of sheer disbelief on his face. "Excuse me?" He demanded.  
  
In response, Naruto blinked at the other boy. "What's with the surprise?" He asked, genuinely ignorant. "I know, I know, you're afraid I'll kick your ass back, but don't worry! I won't. I'm not allowed to demonstrate my ninja-ness in public, you see..." he eyed Itachi carefully, noticing that the cat was staring at him strangely. "So anyway, just beat me up - like, really convincingly, and everything'll settle."  
  
The raven-haired ninja raised a frowning eyebrow when he next asked, "What are you talking about? How the heck am I going to help by beating you up when you could use that time to try to escape from... whoever you're trying to escape from?"  
  
Naruto immediately scowled angrily. "You damned travellers don't know anything! Even if I managed to get away from one, the whole village will be on my case in less than five minutes! They'd gladly submit to any reason they can grasp to beat me up! And when someone does beat me up, all the rest does is stand around and watch! That's why, if you do it, at least it'd be less painful." He paused, then turned a serious expression on Sasuke. "You won't use this opportunity to avenge yourself on me or something will you?"  
  
Still gaping hard at Naruto, Sasuke shook his head and sighed. "Naruto - if you have any better ideas, I might consider helping you. But you want me to beat you up? You might as well ask Itachi," he brandished the cat by bringing him closer to Naruto's face with outstretched hands, "to scratch all their eyes out! I bet /that/ sounded more logical!"  
  
Itachi mewled in agreement.  
  
"Don't be stupid!" Naruto rebuked. "Itachi's just a harmless little kitty! He won't do something as gross as that!"  
  
Sasuke, in turn, was too busy trying to dissuade Naruto from apparent idiocy to notice Itachi squirm guiltily in his grasp. "I didn't mean it literally you little moron! Oh fine! Fine! Whatever! Don't blame me if you get some nasty scars for a few months later!"  
  
Naruto stuck his tongue out. "That won't happen, bastard." He said smoothly, with confidence. "I heal with the speed of light!"  
  
Rolling his eyes, Sasuke decided not to argue with that. He began to brood quietly, wondering how he could /pretend/ to hurt someone. Trust Nrauto to come up with half-baked ideas like these. Why did he play such pranks on the villagers if he knew he was in for a beating anyway? And was it really true that the villagers hated him so much that beating him up was an activity everybody enjoyed doing and watching? Although he was curious, he did not want to beat up someone who had... sort of believed that he was innocent of some hideous crime when everybody else did not. Without really thinking, he bounced Itachi on his lap gently, wondering what kind of situation he had gotten himself into now.  
  
"Okay," Naruto's quiet whisper brought him back to the present, and he stared with annoyance at the boy. "Here's the plan. The butcher goes to the back of his store to get some fresh meat whenever he runs out, and he's running out soon. The storeroom's all darkish and foreboding and so when he comes back out into the open he'll find it difficult to adjust his vision. That will be the time!" He struck a pose to the skies. "I'll toss him some nice water balloons - he hates getting wet, hee hee! - and then I'll run like mad. And you, big ninja, are supposed to trail me in the shadows until we get to safety. If we don't manage to, then you know the backup plan!"  
  
"Yes, yes," Sasuke decided that he would be better off saving some breath in the face of a determined Naruto. He did not really believe that the villagers wanted to beat Naruto up that badly anyway, but he would go along just for the sake of going along.  
  
It was either this, or he had to clean up Naruto's house, right? Right.  
  
"Okay! Here we go!" The blond's excited voice drew his attention to the store where the blond was looking at. He was just in time to catch the last whiff of the fat looking butcher disappearing into the dark recesses of the storeroom. He felt himself tensing involuntarily. As much as he knew he was an accomplished ninja, following Naruto - whose chakra control was so good he could wipe out traces of his existence entirely, was not going to be easy.  
  
Seconds ran into minutes, and the tension in Sasuke's muscles did not ease. Although he did not approve of Naruto's mischief or his backup plan of beatings, he did admit that he was quite excited that he could test his stalking skills. Even Itachi stayed completely still when waiting for Naruto to unleash the water balloons. The air grew thicker and thicker with anticipation when the trio of boys and cat heard the footsteps of the butcher slowly emerging from the storeroom.  
  
Sasuke gulped when he saw the first flash of bloodied apron in the sunlight. Beside him, Naruto had an obscene grin on his face.  
  
He took aim. He raised. He shot.  
  
The first balloon hit the man squarely on his face, causing him to stumble slightly and bellow with indignation. Relentlessly, Naruto quickly relieved himself of all his water balloons by hurling them all with great might, strength and speed at the plump man, who had not had time to recover since the first shot got him. Sasuke watched on with morbid fascination. He had never seen anybody toss water balloons with such frightening speed before. Very likely Naruto used his chakra to help out as well. Sasuke refrained from turning the Sharingan on to capture the flow of chakra. No! He could not risk getting caught now! Besides, why in the world would he want to know how to toss water balloons quickly anyway?!  
  
"Naruto! You little pipsqueak! When I get my hands on you..." The butcher's loud threats forced Sasuke to evaluate the situation more subjectively. Naruto had sprang out from his hiding place and was currently cackling like a hyena on crack. The butcher was still unable to open his eyes, and he was clawing at the spots where the water balloons had landed with desperation. Probably Naruto had dunked some kind of itching powder into his arsenal. That was just so like him.  
  
"Catch me if you can, pig-man!" Naruto screeched right back, already on the run. "That's your payback for selling me rotten meat at high prices! Ngeeeh!" He stuck his tongue out at the last part and made a face, then bounded off into the crowd.  
  
"After him!!" The butcher screamed, and immediatly a few random passers-by from the crowd whisked into action. As their blurred figures quickly passed by where Sasuke and Itachi were, the ninja boy decided that that was a speed that could only be achieved with years of experience and perfection. Why Naruto said there were no ninjas in this part of the village was beyond him.  
  
Nevertheless, after the men passed and there were no more agitated action on the part of the passers-by, Sasuke released the camouflague Jutsu and, placing Itachi around his neck with a stern "Don't fall off," warning, bounded off in the direction Naruto was last seen travelling in.  
  
This might be fun after all.  
  
  
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"Today," Iruka was saying, while up to his elbows and knees in the dirt that was Naruto's front yard crop garden, "we have a special visitor in this village."  
  
Kakashi stopped scratching his ear and looked attentively at the man, who smiled at him.  
  
"So... have you ever heard of the Hokage?"  
  
  
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As good as Naruto's chakra control was, he had on his tail almost an entire lane of villagers screaming bloody murder at him, and the chase was starting to get to him. Although he had great stamina, it was too great to really control well for a long period of time, as this chase was proving to be. Time and again Naruto looked back to trade an insult or two with the offended people that were trying to give him the beating he'd never forget. At the same time, he noticed that he could not see Sasuke anywhere, and was wondering if the boy had even caught up at all when a hand shot out from one of the overhanging houses he was passing by and pulled him into the darkness.  
  
Panicked, it took all of Naruto's self-control not to scream like a little girl. He hadn't really needed to use self-control, though, seeing how tight the grip the shadowy figure had on his mouth. From the corner of his eyes, he could see the figure form a camouflague seal with one hand, and he could feel the chakra slipping into quiet action. The duo crouched nervously just below the window Naruto had just been dragged in by, listening to the sounds of a mass of people thundering past their vicinity.  
  
A while after the last footstep passed, and the birds resumed their chirping, the shadowy figure sighed and released his grip on Naruto. The blond staggered away and whipped around angrily, pointing.  
  
"SASUKE!" He shouted. "What the hell?! You were supposed to help me be my decoy, not drag me away from the chase!"  
  
"Are you really a dimwitted block of termite-infested wood like I always thought you were?!" Sasuke shot back, restraining himself from just jumping forward and strangling the blond into unconsciousness. "I was trying to help you avoid a bloodbath! Why are you so eager to get beaten up by the villagers anyway?"  
  
"I'm not eager to get beaten up!" Naruto stamped his foot on the ground. "I've escaped from those bastards before! I can do it! And now they're all just going to think that I ran away like a coward! And it's all your fault!"  
  
"You'd put your pride above your life?!" Sasuke stared at the shorter boy with horror.  
  
"No!" Naruto replied quickly, anger in his tone. "You're not me! You wouldn't understand! Argh!" Naruto huffed one last time, then slipped out of the window and disappeared as quickly as he was pulled in.  
  
Sasuke stared at the disipating cloud of dust in the evidently abandoned hanging house they had taken refuge in. He turned to stare at the cat, still perched on his shoulders, and asked, "What did I do wrong this time?"  
  
Itachi blinked and rubbed once against Sasuke's neck. Then he went back to sleep.  
  
  
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Although he had lost track of the golden-haired boy by the time he emerged from the dilapidated house, Sasuke knew that the boy possibly must have just returned home. He had thought long and hard about the matter, and decided that he should head to Naruto's house too and apologise to the boy. Friends, according to what he remembered from the books he had read, always gave in to each other to maintain a good relationship after all, right? Right. Iruka-sensei was right when he said that making friends would be a challenge!  
  
Still with the warm, sleeping black Itachi cat curled comfortably around his neck, Sasuke began to make his way to Naruto's house, revising and re-revising what he would say to the blond when he arrived by way of apology.  
  
Words, however, failed him when he finally arrived at his destination.  
  
The sun was still blaring overhead, rendering the day a hot, humid afternoon. Sasuke dragged Itachi off his neck upon stepping into the gates of Naruto's lonely house, which looked blurred and creased in the rising heat. He released the cat onto the ground, and Itachi promptly shot into the house. Sasuke was about to follow, when he noticed, with trepidation, the condition the house was in.  
  
Although he had not had the time to firmly imprint the house in its normal form during his stay, Sasuke knew that the large, gaping hole and the few small openings beside it were definitely not part of its original design. He took a step and promptly squashed beneath his feet a few upturned crop, violently ripped from their former resting place. Scattered across the garden were more vegetable crop corpses that would have made some tasty food, if they had been allowed to continue growing. Sasuke shuddered, despite the suffocating heat, and briskly walked by the garden, ignoring the various scenes of destruction that could only denote bad things. He pushed open the door with much force.  
  
The first thing to assault his senses were the sounds of a piteous, soft sob, brimming with emotions - that of regret and depression. Sasuke swept the room once at eye-level, then realised that there was activity only on the ground. Sitting almost at the threshold of the door, knelt and bent over the prostrate form of Iruka, was the hunched figure of Naruto.  
  
The boy's shoulders jerked at intervals, coupled with heart-wrenching sobs. "Iruka-sensei..." he cried softly, rocking the limp man to and fro. There were a hideous amount of cuts, slashes and bruises evident on Iruka's visible skin - some blood had not began to even coagulate, indicating the severity of the injuries. Neither Itachi nor Kakashi were anywhere to be seen, but Sasuke's mind was on something else anyway. He dove quickly into action, eyes wide with fury.  
  
"Naruto! Get off him!" He knelt down and tore the boy away from Iruka.  
  
"Sasuke..." Naruto was too much in shock to really notice what was happening. He gave way silghtly, but did not completely remove himself from his teacher. He stared at Sasuke, who made a few hand seals and quickly placed his hand above the man. A greenish glow began to gather about his palm, gradually dissolving into the body of Iruka. Even as Naruto watched on, some colour began to return to Iruka's cheeks. He had yet to get over his shock when Sasuke's tensed voice cut into his attention.  
  
"Dumb-bell! If you have the time and energy to gawk and stare, why don't you go to the kitchen and fetch me some warm water?"  
  
The blond roughly wiped at his face with the back of his hand, shooting Sasuke a glare that was not quite a glare before scrambling to his feet and quickly vanishing into the kitchen. Sasuke gritted his teeth in concentration. He was seldom the medic for his team, so his restoration skills were more or less non-existent. This was not going to be pretty.  
  
Stopping the Jutsu he was using and quickly forming the seals for another one, Sasuke thanked whoever it was in his upper lineage that had the sense to develop the Sharingan, drawing upon its copying and storage ability to put up a vague semblance of a medic in action. He had just settled the bleeding and superficial cuts and was about to proceed to tackle the more difficult, invisible internal injuries when Naruto appeared quietly beside him with a basin of warm water and a strange glint in his eye.  
  
"Get a piece of clean cloth and help me remove the dirt and blood from Iruka-sensei's skin," Sasuke ordered tersely, to which Naruto complied without much resistance or rancour. After moving Iruka to a more comfortable spot on the bed, Sasuke pulled the second level healing Jutsu off as best as he could, with Naruto running to and fro the kitchen for a change of freshwater every now and then.  
  
It was at around evening time that Sasuke finally slumped against the table and sighed heavily, beads of sweat rolling off his chin and onto the messy floor. He shot a glance at Naruto, who was just finishing up with bandaging the last of Iruka's injuries. The blond then stood up with the basin and scampered into the kitchen.  
  
Sasuke waited. Exhausted from the exertion, he began to appreciate the toils of the medic in his team a little better. Bad enough it was to do curing in a non-battle, non-fast-paced residential area; he had not wanted to even think about the pressures and problems the medic had to face when forced to deal with blood and broken bones in the middle of heated conflicts. If he ever did see Sakura again, he would be sure to view her in an entirely new light.  
  
After a short period of shuteye, in which various unidentifiable noises drifted to his ears from the kitchen, Sasuke opened his eyes to find that the sun had already set entirely. Wondering what Naruto was doing in the kitchen that was taking such a long time, he wandered in aimlessly. He had in mind many questions to shoot Naruto with to get the situation clearer. The sight that greeted him, however, rendered him dumb-struck again.  
  
There was far more blood spattered about in the kitchen than there was in the living room. Sasuke's numb mind helpfully supplied that this must have been where the major action had taken place in. It wasn't that he had never seen blood or the aftermath of a terrible duel before. There were missions which required much more gore than this which he had successfully carried out with a stomach of iron and a face of steel, after all.  
  
It was just that, Sasuke had never seen disaster on such a close, personal level before.  
  
Naruto was stroking the blood-soaked, dirt-caked fur of the silver coloured dog Sasuke remember was called Kakashi. The dog was sprawled onto his side against the kitchen sink cabinet, panting with short, pained and lingering breaths. Still stuck on his side were several shuriken and kunai. Blood continued to dribble from the dog's body down the weapons.  
  
The blond had his back against Sasuke, so the latter could not see what his expression was. Likely Naruto had seen the injured dog when he had made his first trip to the kitchen, but had kept his mouth shut to avoid giving Sasuke unnecessary confusion that would break his concentration when trying to cure Iruka. That would explained the strange glint Sasuke saw in the boy's eyes when he first returned.  
  
It was cruel, Sasuke realised, but Naruto had to choose to deal with his pain and kept quiet about his beloved dog bleeding away in the kitchen so that he could save the one man who ever showed him any regard in his whole life. Like Naruto, Sasuke knew that it was near impossible to give life back to this creature whose constitution was just not built for withstanding chakra-filled attacks like that. That was probably why Naruto chose to sit by the dog's side instead of running to Sasuke and shouting at him to hurry up and cure the dog too, dammit.  
  
He could feel his fists clench. Whoever had done this would pay dearly.  
  
While going through the various methods of torture and grim he would execute upon the perpetrator of this crime, Sasuke noticed that Itachi had been in the kitchen all along, sitting by a dark corner, staring at the dying dog. He was momentarily surprised. Even Naruto's pets had such wonderful chakra control? Mentally too exhausted to think any further than that, he watched as the cat suddenly stood up from his previous position and padded quietly over to Kakashi.  
  
When there, he sat down in front of the dog and stared meaningfully at his friend and sometimes enemy. If Sasuke had been allowed to read those eyes as he would a human's, he would discern that Itachi had something major up his sleeve and was seeking Kakashi's permission to do it. Unconsciously Sasuke felt himself turning to Kakashi, along with that line of thought, to await some sort of a response.  
  
He did not have to wait long. Kakashi whined slightly, closed his eyes, and shook his head.  
  
Sasuke would have put two to two together, had Naruto not chosen that particular moment in time to choke on the tears that were gushing forth from his eyes with a strangled sound. "Kakashi! I promise I won't scold you or throw you off the bed anymore! Please don't die! Don't leave me alone! Kakashi!!"  
  
Something tugged at Sasuke's heart, and his rage dissipated into sympathy. He knew, at the very least, that Naruto must be an orphan - perhaps from a very young age on. That much was obvious from the state of Naruto's house. Throughout his whole day out with the bubbly blond, he could tell that the villagers disliked Naruto for a reason he did not know nor wanted to find out. All he did know was that, amidst this close-knit society in the suburbs of Konoha Gakure, Naruto was truly alone. He was the single soul going against the tide trying to wash him ashore. How he had managed to cling onto his sanity until now Sasuke could not fathom, but it possibly had to do with the presence of Iruka, and the two animals that had grown to be like family to the boy who had nothing to win, and nothing to lose.  
  
Nothing, except them.  
  
"Kakashi..." Naruto's crying had simmered to whispers, and he was shivering with plain depression. Itachi had taken to walking to and fro the dog, shooting him glances every now and then, waiting for a response from Kakashi that he wanted. Unfortunately, every time Itachi shot the dog a glance, Kakashi would shake his head slightly. Not entirely sure what it meant, but not really interested at the moment either, Sasuke knelt down next to Naruto to get a closer look at the injuries on the dog.  
  
The blond made no protest, shifting slightly to allow the raven-haired boy space. He continued to stroke the dog with his free hand, the other frequently going up to his face to wipe the streaks of tears away.  
  
Sasuke glanced once at Naruto and quickly looked away before he, too, got overwhelmed by emotions. Methodologically, he assessed the damage on the dog's stomach. There were a lot of torn skin and unrelenting bleeding, but some were already showing signs of coagulating. A massive assortment of ninja tools stuck out of the dog's side and stomach like he was a live pincushion. Sasuke had the bad feeling that if he were to pull them out just like that, then the dog would just bleed to death anyway; whether or not he was fast enough to perform the healing Jutsu.  
  
But the fact that Kakashi was still breathing and still gasping in pain was evidence enough that this dog was stronger than he looked. Sasuke found himself biting his lower lip and frowning. He could try /that/ method, but he wasn't sure if it was going to be of any help at all.  
  
Itachi meowed loudly at him, derailing him from his train of thought. The raven-haired boy stared at the black cat, wondering why he was suddenly so loud. The cat meowed again, then turned to look at Kakashi, before turning back to look at Sasuke, a semi-pleading look in his pale, glowing eyes. After that, possibly deciding that his job here was done, the cat walked towards Naruto and purred gently at him. The blond continued wiping tears away from his face, although one hand of his shot out to encompass the black cat in a small hug.  
  
Sasuke looked at them from the corner of his eyes, and his heart clenched. "Naruto," he began, slowly feeling the adrenaline rush through his veins in preparation of what was to come. "Get ready. We're going to pull these things out from Kakashi."  
  
The sobbing youth's head jerked upwards quickly, his eyes wide with teary disbelief. "What?! Are you crazy? Are you trying to kill Kakashi? I'm not in the mood for your-"  
  
"Listen!" Sasuke grabbed Naruto by the scuff of his collar and yelled into his face. "There's still hope!" He frowned, knowing that his Sharingan were snapping into place even as he spoke but choosing to ignore the panicked look of fear on Naruto's face. "We can still save him! But I need your help! Do you want to save Kakashi or not? Or do you want to just let him bleed to death at this rate?"  
  
"Of course I want to save him!" Naruto responded with cutting energy, shouting right back into Sasuke's face. "But I don't know how! I can't bring him to the hospital! They'd never even admit me, less say my dog!! I want to save him!! I WANT TO SAVE HIM DAMMIT! But I can't!! I have no power... I'm too bloody weak! Were you just waiting for me to say that? Are you happy now, bastard?!"  
  
"Listen to me!!" Sasuke used both hands to grab at his collar and shook the hysterical boy. "Listen to me! Please!" He waited for the blond to calm down slightly before continuing, "You can't save Kakashi if these weapons keep being stuck in his body! He's going to be bled dry at this rate! We need to remove them /carefully/, then bandage him up. To do that we need to first dull his senses with anesthetic so he can bear with the pain. You don't have anything of that sort around here, do you? Naruto!" He shook the boy slightly.  
  
Sniffling away, Naruto shook his head quietly.  
  
"Then in that case we'll have to gamble on the Sharingan," Sasuke shook the boy again, trying to keep him in the present. "Listen! I'm going to Genjutsu him into a state of unawareness and try to erase the ability to feel pain from him. But I still need you to carefully pull the weapons out from him and then use a healing Jutsu on him. Don't look at me like that! Do you want to help Kakashi or not? The Genjutsu I'm going to use is going to take up most of my chakra. /You/ have to do the healing Jutsu. Naruto. Kakashi is counting on you. Do you understand?"  
  
With eyes brimming with tears and hope, Naruto nodded carefully. "But I don't know how to..."  
  
"Watch carefully." Sasuke formed a three-seal Jutsu in slow-motion, then looked at Naruto. "We don't have much time. This is all I can teach you for now. Channel your chakra the same way you do so when using the Kage Bunshin. Are you ready, Naruto?"  
  
The blond wiped his face one final time with his hands and nodded, grim determination etched across his features.  
  
Sasuke then quickly sat himself in front of the suffering dog. "Kakashi," he commanded, "look at me."  
  
Out of the unconscious mind of a nearly dead brain, Kakashi obeyed the voice that was calling out to him amidst his searing pain. The spiralling black magatama against the background of a bright, bloody red greeted him, and before he knew it, his entire body descended into the crevasse that would bring him into the world of the Tsukiyomi.  
  
He landed softly on a ground that was dark and formless.  
  
"Kakashi," Sasuke's voice drifted into his ears from the faceless landscape. "Relax and don't struggle. Ah hell, I don't know if you understand me or not, but just don't struggle, all right? Just rest and don't move around too much. Everything'll be all right in 24 hours."  
  
Kakashi blinked, sudden relief gushing through his body. Just a few seconds ago he had been struggling with an affliction even more terrifying than his Thousand-years-of-pain Taijutsu special. Now, however, he felt like he was on his way to a nice, refreshing, afternoon picnic by the riverside. The sudden change of physical bearing was confusing, but welcomed, to say the least.  
  
He looked around at the featureless land around him, with dark grass and red skies. He did not quite understand what had happened, but only knew that he was under the influence of a powerful Genjutsu at the moment. So powerful, that it could erase his pain and imprison him into his own unconsciousness.  
  
That was fine by him, because from what little snippets he could catch from Naruto and Sasuke's conversation, they were going to pull the damnable weapons out from his hide with no anesthetic whatsoever. Seasoned and well-trained though he was, Kakashi was no masochist. Pain was a feeling he knew he could do without.  
  
He sat down, still in his doggy form, in the middle of nowhere, and glanced left and right. This was definitely an interestingly boring situation he had gotten himself into.  
  
Having nothing to do, Kakashi's mind began to drift to the events of the day.  
  
Iruka had arrived early today, some time in the morning instead of the usual afternoon. Since Naruto had dragged Sasuke and Itachi out that morning to perform his usual pranks, Kakashi was left all alone at home to guard the house. Not that he minded, of course. The villagers did dislike Naruto, but would not go as far as to disobey the Hokage's direct order that no one in the pseudo-village was to display their ninja skills. Therefore, he could bark at the intruders like any ordinary guard dog would and watch them shake a fist, face red with rage that they, powerful ninjas of the Hidden Leaf, could not do anything to stop a dog from barking at them because of a decree. It was amusing, to say the least.  
  
Anyway, Kakashi did not dislike Iruka's company. In fact, he very much preferred it to that of his wayward partner - the one and only Uchiha Itachi. After hanging out with the psycho weirdo for a decade, he decided that he didn't mind any sort of normal company at all! And even though Naruto was cute and everything - it just didn't get too fun when he shouted at you all the time and bounced around like a ball on spring. Kakashi was just a normal, old, lazy Jounin trying to accomplish his mission, after all, and had no such energy to keep up with the boy!  
  
He had followed Iruka around like a friendly dog was supposed to, eventually ending up outside the house, staring up at the oak tree. For some reason, everybody loved to imagine that he often chased Itachi up this tree, so whenever the moody cat was missing, they would stare at the tree, as if by just staring the cat would appear out from thin air. None of them had even suspected that Itachi was, in fact, out on his nightly murder prowl and would be back by daybreak. The dog sighed. Cats were so troublesome. Especially the psychotic ones.  
  
Seeing that there was no black cat perched there, Iruka turned to the food planted outside the house instead. The Chuunin began to speak to himself, commenting about the weather, Naruto, the potatoes, Naruto, the carrots, Naruto, the house and the mess that was in it, Naruto, the hole in the roof that was causing leaks, Naruto and more Naruto. If Kakashi didn't know any better, he would've mauled the man under the suspicion of pedophilia. Iruka was, he knew, just very concerned. An orphan like Naruto himself, Iruka understood what true loneliness was, and it was evident that he did not want anyone else to suffer the same emptiness he did. This concern, however, often translated to over-protectiveness and slight obsession that Kakashi knew was bad for the health of both Naruto and Iruka.  
  
Which was why the dog took it upon himself to educate the Chuunin along the right path. He wondered briefly, while scratching his ear, that if Iruka had read that volume of Icha Icha Paradaisu he stuffed in his backpack last week before he left?  
  
Then Iruka mouthed the one word he had not heard for years.  
  
Hokage.  
  
Kakashi's interest was perked, almost as much as his suspicion was arose. Hokage-sama was here? That could only mean that something earth-shaking was about to happen. He stood attentive and listened, hoping to catch more information from Iruka before the man drifted away into other topics, as he was so fond of doing when simply yammering on about nothing.  
  
As the one-way conversation proceeded, Kakashi found out that the Hokage had came together with Iruka that morning, but had gone straight to the pseudo-village elder's house instead of checking up on Naruto. Well, what with all the pristine and perfect reports Iruka must have been submitting prior anyway, Kakashi did understand that there was probably no need for the Hokage to make any extra trips. It seems like the situation was very serious, but Kakashi drew encouragement from the fact that Iruka smiled wistfully when he reiterated the events of the day.  
  
Perhaps the decree had been lifted?  
  
Perhaps Naruto could finally be assimilated into Konoha for real?  
  
Before Iruka could mention anything further than the Hokage's current whereabouts, however, trouble came.  
  
Trouble came in the form of a large mob, appearing before the gates of the house with murderous intent obvious in their aura. Iruka had quickly rose to full height.  
  
"Good morning," he greeted the crowd cautiously, and Kakashi growled. "Is anything the matter?"  
  
"Anything the matter nothing!" The wet butcher waved his large knife around dangerously. "Where is he?! Where is that little prick! Get him out so I can make mincemeat out of him and feed his poisoned hide to the cockroaches in my house!"  
  
The Chuunin was visibly shaken by the announcement. He frowned and said, "That wasn't a very nice thing to say to a fellow villager. Anyway Naruto has gone out from since morning and has yet to return. I'm afraid this was a futile trip for you."  
  
There were mixed reactions from the crowd, as they exchanged glances between one another. They began to speak in low whispers among themselves, and Iruka grew increasingly uncomfortable.  
  
The foreboding murmuring stretched for a long period of time before finally, Iruka quipped, "If there's nothing else now, why don't all of you return to your posts? It may be-"  
  
The Chuunin spy was cut off by a loud shout from someone in the mob, and he barely managed to duck a sharp blade that whizzed past his ear and stuck itself onto the wall of the house behind him.  
  
Instincts instantly flooded his senses. Iruka leapt backwards and his hands reached towards his shuriken and kunai holsters; only to realise that he did not have them with him - he had been sternly warned not to show his true identity in the village. He gasped quietly at his slip-up, and when he returned his attention to the crowd, some of them were smirking away.  
  
"So you /are/ a ninja," one of them blurted. "Had us completely fooled there, Mr. 'travelling merchant.'"  
  
The sensei frowned and gritted his teeth. Things seemed to have already escalated to such an extent that the villagers were no longer afraid of speaking what was taboo out loud. "Do you know what you're talking about?" Iruka growled, eye scanning the terrain for something he could use as an emergency weapon. Since these guys were not beating about the bush, he wasn't going to either. "Hokage-sama said-"  
  
"Hokage-sama can say anything he wants to," someone in the mob interrupted Iruka. "But Hokage-sama isn't here. Hokage-sama wouldn't know if you didn't tell him! We've checked, Mister. Hokage-sama is due for a diplomatic journey today out of Konoha. That means he can't steal glances at us from his crystal ball during this period. That'd be great!" The man's face was hideous, as he pointed a kunai threateningly at Iruka. "Because he'll be so grateful to us after we rid him of the bastard fox today."  
  
"That's rubbish!" Iruka rebutted angrily. "Naruto is not the Kyuubi! He's just a normal person like all of us are! Why can't any of you get it into your thick heads!?"  
  
"Shut up!" Someone else yelled, and another kunai whizzed dangerously past the Academy teacher, who quietened down so that he would not further anger the crowd. Beside him, Kakashi continued to growl.  
  
"We've put up with that trouble-making bastard child long enough," more men joined in the verbal fray. "And what do we get in return? We get killed! That bastard nine-tails goes around murdering people he has a penchant against. Or he uses a fearsome insanity Jutsu to put them into a coma! This stupid kid is dangerous! We have to kill him now, even if the Hokage says no! The villagers' lives are at stake here!"  
  
Iruka's frown deepened, and he crouched lower, anticipating an attack anytime. "You have no proof," he stated.  
  
"We don't need proof. No one else in the village could have done it," was the heartless reply. "Now get out of the way!"  
  
Iruka barely took one split second to respond.  
  
"No."  
  
But he knew that he couldn't have made a more right choice, no matter what the consequences would prove to be.  
  
The attacks came swiftly. Iruka had no weapons with him and could only dodge as quickly as he could into the shelter of the house - which was not really a very effective shelter by a far cry. Still, he did all he could to be some time, piling the heaviest furniture he could see at a glance against the door and then slipping into the kitchen, the only place in the house which currently had a stock of sharp objects that could qualify as weapons with some creative usage.  
  
Kakashi padded into the kitchen together with Iruka and stood by his side in awareness. The situation was not good. These were a mob of high-level ninjas who were blinded by their hatred too much to see past the current situation. Nevermind the Hokage's decree, it seemed, for they had begun using weapons and chakra and were evidently out for blood.  
  
Naruto may not be here at the moment, but that did not mean they could not hurt him by hurting the people that mattered to him.  
  
And the worst part of it was, Kakashi was stuck in a dog's form.  
  
He debated, while Iruka gathered whatever he could from the kitchen that could be used as counter weapons, whether he should dispel the Jutsu and meet the ninjas head-on. He was fairly confident that in human form he could take on the mob with a high chance of winning. Iruka may be capable, but every capable ninja knew when he was outnumbered, and Iruka was likely aware of that fact presently too.  
  
Still, if he did dispel his technique, it would only cause more problems for Naruto than he already had on hand. Not to mention the Hokage would be in deep trouble as well. The cons outweighed the pros by much, and Kakashi shook his head to prepare himself, even as the door to the house was destroyed and various angry-looking ninjas marched into the house in search of a target to vent their anger on.  
  
He may be in the form of a dog, Kakashi grinned, but he could be pretty lethal too.  
  
Kakashi's thoughts snapped back to the present - the present being the abandoned landscape of Sasuke's Tsukiyomi. The ear-shattering silence was his only companion, and he slowly laid down on the floor to rest as any normal, lazy dog would in a situation like this.  
  
He was not really sure what happened after the men burst into the room, other than the fact that he was vaguely powered by adrenaline thereafter. Iruka put up an impressive fight against the mob, for someone who was supposedly only a Chuunin, with a limited stock of cutlery in his arsenal.  
  
Kakashi did remember trying to help, though that had not ended up very successful, seeing how he was later reduced to a dog pincushion by the table side. There were just too many people, blinded by their hatred, lusting for the blood of the Kyuubi and anyone vaguely related to the Youma, than he could handle in a form where he could hardly manifest a quarter of his original prowess.  
  
He had drifted between consciousness and unconsciousness after managing to push Iruka out of the way of some kunai and shuriken - the very same attack that rendered him a pincushion, and his memories after that were vague. He remembered that Iruka had cried his name when he went down with a heavy 'THUD!', then all things else he heard amidst the massive pain were the sounds of a heated battle, with lots of metal clashing against metal. A shadow danced constantly before him, yelling something about "Leave him alone!" while meeting the enemies head on. Then someone had shouted from the living room something about the Forbidden Scroll, and everybody except Iruka then left the kitchen. Kakashi's muscles had spasmed at that. He knew his body wanted to move out too.  
  
Because it appeared like they had discovered the Forbidden Scroll and was about to spirit it away.  
  
Iruka struggled to his feet, however, and did that for Kakashi. More shouting could be heard from the living room, which Kakashi could no longer remember, except that Iruka's voice was among the shouts. There was a brief cry of pain and the sound of something heavy falling onto the floor after a while. Then there was deathly silence.  
  
He knew they had completely lost to the enemy.  
  
Kakashi could not make out how long it was afterwards that he heard noise from the living room again. It came in the form of a loud "IRUKA-SENSEI!!!!" which he knew to be Naruto's. If his lungs hadn't been hurting so much, Kakashi would have laughed. The boy was always full of energy no matter what happened.  
  
Naruto thereafter came into the kitchen a few times to fetch some water after a shouting match with Sasuke. Every time he came he bit his lips, held back his tears and whispered at Kakashi to hang in there. The silver-haired Jounin knew that Sasuke was likely treating Iruka, and he felt relief wash over him at that thought. He clung desperately on to consciousness, knowing that if he slipped he could very well never wake up again. The pain was starting to make him drowsy, and his muscles completely failed him. This was truly an inconvenient form.  
  
He only realised that Itachi was staring at him when the cat made his presence blatantly obvious. Opening his eyes, he saw the purposeful cat staring at him with a look which could only forebode bad things. Having hung out so long with his partner, Kakashi knew how to accurately translate that intense scrutiny.  
  
Itachi wanted to return to human form to help with the situation.  
  
The situation being the curing of Kakashi, of course.  
  
Amused at the concern Itachi was showing at the stake of disobeying orders, Kakashi firmly shook his head, aware that Sasuke was watching but hardly able to care anymore. At this rate he wasn't going to live to get interrogated by the boy anyway.  
  
Even breathing was difficult now, Kakashi realised unhappily. One or two of the pointy things must have gotten near a doggy lung, because he felt a sharp, rubbing pain beneath his ribs whenever he heaved. The situation was not good at all, and Itachi was not making it any better by staring at him predatorily, obviously hoping for a nod in Kakashi's state of delirum.  
  
The silver-haired Jounin had decided from a long time ago that the mission meant nothing to Itachi and the Uchiha had his own agenda - whatever it was. But he sure as anything wasn't going to let that agenda mess with /his/ mission. A ninja risked his life to keep to his purpose, and if he had to die to prove his point, then so be it.  
  
It was what the Fourth Hokage had always taught him, anyway.  
  
The Jounin laughed inwardly to himself. Of all the manners to die, dying away from his village within a fabricated world in the form of a dog amidst loud, squabbling voices had certainly never crossed his mind. His life had been colourful indeed.  
  
... Wait. Loud squabbling noises?  
  
Itachi had vanished by the time Kakashi forced his eyes open, and he heard - distinctly this time, Naruto and Sasuke's shouting match. He wasn't sure what they were yelling at each other about, except that it was about himself. Unable to concentrate for too long, his mind began to drift again. After what seemed like a long time, the shouting match ceased into hushed silence.  
  
And that was when Sasuke sent him into the world of the Tsukiyomi.  
  
Twenty-four hours wasn't such a long time, Kakashi thought to himself, yawned and set himself into a comfortable mental position. He could use a nice, long, well-earned nap and leave the rest up to the young ones.  
  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
Naruto watched in horror and fascination when Sasuke pulled the Jutsu on Kakashi, and the dog's pained wheezes subsided into peaceful breathing. He would have continued to stare, if Sasuke hadn't broken the spell by collapsing against the cabinet, covering his eyes and gritting his teeth. The blond's concern melted quickly into determination, Sasuke's words filtering through his mind at lightspeed. He approached the dog carefully, and wrapped his hand around the first kunai.  
  
That fitful dusk, nobody spent the night well rested.  
  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
When Iruka opened his eyes blearily the next day, the first thing to come into his mind was:  
  
OUCH!  
  
He stifled a groan and turned slightly, only to regret it a split second later when a hot, massive pain threatened to rip his consciousness apart and throw him back into the jaws of sweet slumber. A muffled grunt escaped his lips, and he leant back quickly against the pillow, noticing that it had been soaked with his sweat. He took deep breaths, battling with the receding pain while trying to recall what had happened to land him in such a state.  
  
The cheerful glow of the morning sun coupled with the melodious chirping of the insects were all that accompanied him, while the ugly memories returned to haunt his existence.  
  
"Oh yeah..." Iruka mumbled to himself. "Yesterday..." The man put his face into his palm, mumbling something about renegades who disobeyed the Hokage to himself. Then, as if suddenly remembering something, he shot up straight, ignoring the pain that accompanied his hasty action. "Kakashi!" He gasped. He made an action to move, but tumbled unceremoniously out of the bed and onto the floor instead.  
  
A sharp pain shot through his spine and he cried out like a strangled beast caught in a trap. Before he could figure out which way was up and which way was down, however, footsteps could be heard running towards him, getting louder and louder. He saw a pair of black ninja sandals from where he was and tensed. If those crazy villagers attacked him now...  
  
"Iruka-sensei!" A familiar-sounding voice jolted him into awareness. He glanced slightly upwards, even as the newcomer bent down to support the Chuunin by the shoulders, dragging him back to the bed. "What were you doing?!"  
  
"Sasuke!" Iruka croaked, then coughed, when he realised that his voice box was not working too well. The raven-haired boy handed him a cup of water from a makeshift counter nearby wordlessly, and he drank it with gratitude.  
  
After clearing his throat a couple of times more, he glanced at Sasuke questioningly. "What happened?" He asked.  
  
The young Uchiha, on the other hand, blinked in confusion. "I should be asking you that, sensei. What happened yesterday? You really got us worried for a while there."  
  
"I'm sorry about that," Iruka apologised instinctively, putting a hand behind his back then recoiling from the pain it induced. At the thought of the shearing pain, his eyes snapped open with purpose and he stared at Sasuke in the eye with pleading while asking, "Sasuke, where is Kakashi? What happened to him?"  
  
"Kakashi is," the raven-haired eyes averted his ex-teacher's glance by lowering his eyes to the floor. He sighed quietly and closed his eyes. "He's..."  
  
Fear gripped the Chuunin, and it significantly increased his threshold to pain. He thrust forward and grabbed the brooding Sasuke by his wrist and demanded, "What is it? Tell me!"  
  
Unshaken by the grab-attack, Sasuke looked at the sensei in the eye and sighed. "Kakashi is..." He took a graceful step to the side, so Iruka could see what else was on the floor.  
  
The bandaged Kakashi, rolling about on his makeshift bed and refusing to stay still.  
  
If his mouth had not been bandaged either, Iruka swore that the dog would be howling by now, as he usually did every morning. Unfortunately, the silver-haired dog was now entirely mummified in a cocoon of tight, white stripes. For some reason, his limbs had been bandaged into the cocoon as well. In effect, he was a dog with a body of bandages. Nothing more, nothing less. Iruka twitched slightly at the messy way of healing Kakashi was undergoing. But he knew in his heart that he was relieved beyond compare. The dog was almost as dear to him as Naruto was, after all.  
  
"As you can see," Sasuke's annoyed countenance betrayed his icy cold tone, "Kakashi is alive and kicking, and being a nuisance as usual. The operation was a complete success, although Naruto should never be allowed to bandage anything /ever/ again," the Uchiha sighed, putting his hands on his hips and looking at Iruka calculatingly. "Sensei, what in the world is so funny?"  
  
The Chuunin was smiling despite himself, and he coughed at the conscripting pain in his chest. "Nothing, Sasuke," he said, still smiling, "I'm just so glad everybody is all right." Kakashi had managed to roll over to the bedside where Iruka was resting in at this point of time, and while Sasuke glared disapprovingly at the mummy-dog, Iruka reached over and pat the dog on his head reassuringly. "Thank you so much for shielding me yesterday, Kakashi. You were very brave."  
  
"Mmmmrm!" Kakashi tried to respond.  
  
"All right all right," Sasuke toed the dog gently on his back. "Go back to your bed and get to sleep, Kakashi. Don't waste my twenty-four hours!"  
  
When he saw that the dog was unwilling to budge from Iruka's bedside, Sasuke growled and squatted down, staring at the dog.  
  
The dog stared back.  
  
And before long, found himself being rolled back to the makeshift bed Sasuke had assigned him.  
  
He wiggled and attempted to resist, but even Kakashi couldn't break out of the Tsukiyomi for long. The rolling was making him dizzy, and soon the dog had stopped struggling and laid on the makeshift bed comfortably, drifting in between the illusionary world of Sasuke's Genjutsu and the real world of unconsciousness. In any case, he stopped thrashing and now laid still.  
  
Unconvinced, Sasuke threw two thick ropes over the heavily bandaged dog and nailed the two ends of each rope into the ground, earning laughter from Iruka at the hilarious sight. Eventually finishing his task, Sasuke stood up and reprimanded his ex-teacher with a smirk. "Sensei. If you have the time to laugh at Kakashi, why don't you rest too? I'm sure you know better than anyone else that my medic skills isn't exactly the best of the batch. You're all patched up now, but it doesn't mean I did a good job or anything. It would be better if you took some time to rest and recover naturally." The smirk had vanished from his face when he finished that sentence, and he now eyed the exit of the house with great interest. "So..."  
  
"Wait," Iruka stopped the boy before he could head out. "Where's Naruto?" The concern in Iruka's voice now doubled. "Is he all right? Did they hurt him? Where is he?"  
  
"The idiot is all right," Sasuke mulled over what he just said quietly, then added, "I think... Anyway, sensei," Sasuke's hand was already forming the seals for another Genjutsu. "Go to sleep. I still have a lot of questions to ask you, and you won't be able to answer in a state like that."  
  
Unable to protest, Iruka slowly lowered himself onto the bed. In a short while, he was breathing lightly - the mark of a man in slumber.  
  
Carefully, Sasuke took some time to arrange Iruka in a more comfortable position. He then walked over to the entrance and hovered by it carefully, staring at what was outside.  
  
There was a head of blond standing before the ruined garden, his back towards the Uchiha ninja. The morning breeze gently raked his unruly spikes, and Sasuke could not help but notice the blond clenching and unclenching his fists intermittently.  
  
The raven-haired boy took a sweeping glance at the terrain and knew that he would have done the same thing, if his house and home of a decade was reduced to such a stage overnight by no error of his.  
  
Itachi was standing beside the traumatised blond, and Sasuke wondered again why he had not felt the presence of the black cat. Saving the questions for later, he called out. "Hey! Naruto!"  
  
The blond tensed, then turned around with bright, questioning, yet innocent eyes.  
  
Following his instincts, the Uchiha ninja approached the blond cautiously, until they stood side by side and he could see what the blond had been staring at. His crop field. Sasuke frowned at how terribly defaced the entire field had become. He had yet to get a good look at the landscape yesterday in the semi-darkness, but now that he did, he was disgusted inside-out at how cruel the villagers had been. Whoever had handed them their ninja licenses ought to be shot!  
  
"Aaah" Naruto sighed, placing both his hands behind his head and pouting. "This is going to take forever to fix!"  
  
Sasuke tried to cull his incredulous stare, but was unsuccessful. He gaped, "You're not going to do anything about this?"  
  
"Of course I am," Naruto turned to look at his companion in the eye, "But it's going to take a long, long time! Well anyway, since you're here, you might as well help me. We could start by clearing away the inedible food first..."  
  
"That's not what I meant!" Sasuke was as surprised as Naruto was at his outburst, although he did not openly show it like the blond did. He pursed his lips into a tight line to prevent the unhappy scowl from showing itself, the continued, "Those bastards destroyed your house and almost killed Iruka-sensei and Kakashi! And you're not going to do anything to them?"  
  
The blond instantly opened his mouth to reply, his face twisted with anger. No sound escaped from his mouth, however, and soon he returned to staring at the mess before him. The misleading tranquility and silence of the woodlands that surrounded Naruto's lonely house washed over the scene while the boys kept silent, until Naruto's shoulders sagged and he sighed.  
  
"It's useless," he said, softly, despondance evident in his tone. "No matter what I do... No matter how hard I fight back... try to set things straight. Nobody gives a damn. Nobody cares if I'm being well behaved or atrocious. Anything I do becomes a reason to beat me up," he slowly lifted his clouded, guarded blue eyes to meet Sasuke's, and for an instance, the latter thought he could see the sea of pain Naruto swam in daily. That flicker of emotion died, soon, however, and Naruto grinned widely, veiling his eyes from sight. "That's why I do all the worst possible things I can to them! If I'm going down, I'll drag those bastards down with me. I'll show them that I, Uzumaki Naruto, can play a big part in their lives to, whether they like it or not!" He heaved a fist in the air.  
  
Beside him, Itachi mewled, just for the sake of mewling.  
  
Between the boy and his cat, Sasuke eventually had to take a deep breath to calm himself down. "Damn weird way of reasoning you have there," he muttered, a hand on his forehead, trying to curb the splitting headache that usually came in the aftermath of a Tsukiyomi. "But if it's kept you alive and well for so long, who am I to be complaining?" He removed his hand from his forehead and gave Naruto a serious look. "I, however, am not going to let this matter off so easily. Once I find out who did this blasted deed, I'm going to make sure he never lives to see another sunrise comfortably again."  
  
"Ooh, scary," the sarcasm in Naruto's voice did not escape Sasuke, though he was anything but offended. Naruto turned his attention away and squatted before the land that use to house his crops, sighing again. "This goes to the charts as the worst attack so far." He mulled. "Although, they shouldn't have done that to Iruka-sensei and Kakashi... if they had a bone to pick with me, why the hell did they-"  
  
As if an arrow had just struck him out of the blue, Naruto jerked back to his feet with renewed purpose. He spun around and Sasuke found himself staring into narrowed, furious eyes. "Why the hell did they do that for?! I don't care if they dismantle my house or burn my stuff or whatever, but they didn't have to hurt Iruka-sensei like that! And Kakashi too! They have nothing to do with..." He paused, blinking innocently at the break in thought. Before long, however, he hardened his glare again. "... Nothing to do with whatever it is they have against me, isn't that the case? ARGH!" He punched the air with his hands and shouted into the sky. Sasuke discreetly took one step back. "That does it! I'm gonna go find that old guy and complain to him! See if they don't get punished! HA HA!"  
  
/It took you a whole night and morning to figure that out?/ Sasuke thought inwardly to himself, and would have verbalised his opinion if Naruto hadn't turned around and pointed a finger at him.  
  
"You!" Naruto was saying, and Sasuke jumped back slightly in confusion. "You stay here and fix up the house or something. I'm going to go complain to the village chief."  
  
The raven-haired boy paused before he could quickly agree to the plan - after all, he wasn't supposed to show his face in public, and a meeting with any 'chief' was sure to get him sent to the gallows faster than he could say Naruto-you-idiot. He considered the situation very carefully before saying, "I don't think that's a good idea."  
  
The blond had lowered his finger by then. He stared questioningly at his companion.  
  
"Those heartless monsters who did this," Sasuke gestured slightly about himself, "are most likely not going to just give up like this. Like you said, they have something - heaven only knows what, against you, and last night, since they couldn't vent their anger on you, they took it out on the next closest thing - people and things you hold dear to you. Iruka-sensei is no easy pickings - he very likely wounded at least a good lot of them. Kakashi's fangs aren't that dull either, so that's probably why they had to beat a hasty retreat last night. Now, however, if you're going to go out in broad daylight among people you /know/ wouldn't think twice about attacking you while the others form a ring and watch, you are, in my opinion, just courting your own death." His speech finished, Sasuke folded his arms across his chest. "You'll die without being acknowledged by anyone. You don't want that to happen, do you?"  
  
The shorter teen was rendered tongue-tied by Sasuke's succint observation. But damned if he were going to admit to Sasuke that he was right! He leaned forward and growled, "Look here you-"  
  
"Naruto! Sasuke!" A raspy voice disengaged the staring duo, who turned instead to stare at the source of the new sound - from the doorway of the wrecked house. Iruka stood there, leaning against the frame, coughing occasionally. He met the eyes of his two students and smiled warmly.  
  
His two students, however, had anything but smiles on their minds.  
  
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto's loud voice drowned out the otherwise appalled call from Sasuke. The blond sprinted towards where the Chuunin stood and quite literally ran him down into a ball of embrace, complete with loud, bawling sound effects. "IRUKA-SENSEI!" He wailed repeatedly, unable to say anything else. "IRUKA-SENSEI!!"  
  
Before the instructor had any opportunity to haul the little creature off his waist, Sasuke chose this poignant moment in time to step in. "Naruto!!" His voice was stern with annoyance and slight anger. He grabbed the blond by his shoulders and yanked him away from Iruka.  
  
The pain the Chuunin received due to the initial shock of Naruto glomping onto his waist and suddenly being yanked away caused him to tumble unceremoniously on his butt to the floor, almost squashing the unconscious Kakashi in the event. He held his cry of pain back, not wanting to worry the two teens. Not that he had to, anyway, for they were currently involved in a heated argument about the pros and cons of hugging a severely injured man just recovered, and then getting pulled away from said same person.  
  
"...- just recovered, not even fully!" Sasuke was saying something, as Iruka listened with mild interest into the conversation which had evidently been progressing for a while now. "What if the wounds open up again? Then all our efforts last night would have been wasted!"  
  
"Shut up!" Naruto screeched back, voice trembling. Iruka was taken aback to find the boy crying uncontrollably. Not that the blond never cried before - Iruka had seen him in tears to many times to think that way. It was just that Naruto would always either cry in secret, or when he thought no one was watching, or when he was with people he was comfortable with - namely, Iruka, and his two pets. Never had Iruka seen, nor had he even thought he would see, Naruto letting his emotions go awry in front of a stranger he had barely known for two days. "You don't understand!" Naruto's continuation brought his heads back from the clouds. The boy was still sniffling. "You don't know anything at all! Stop screaming at me like you have the right to! I-"  
  
"Boys, boys," Iruka got onto his feet shakily, dusting his pants in his ascension. He held both hands up and smiled again, despite the pain. "I'm all right. Really. Don't worry about me, and thank you for caring so much, Naruto, Sasuke," he pat them both on the head, since they were still significantly shorter than he was. Naruto beamed with joy and Sasuke looked away with a pout, but neither attempted to squirm out of the pat. "Now, if you're both all calmed down now, I have a mission for you both."  
  
Sasuke's ears perked up at that familiar sounding word, whereas Naruto simply tilted his head to one side. "Mission?" He reiterated the word slowly, like it was foreign and hardly used.  
  
"Sensei," there was a cutting coldness to Sasuke's tone that made even Naruto gape at the unhappy boy. "Before you say anything else, can you please just rest on the bed instead of stand here amidst the mess? Your wounds are not going to get any better at this rate."  
  
"Yes, yes," Iruka laughed and quietly returned to his resting place on the bed.  
  
Before following his teacher and only humanoid friend, Naruto made a face at Sasuke and whispered, "Mother-hen!"  
  
He almost wasn't fast enough to avoid the smack upside the head.  
  
"Anyway," with a vein throbbing dangerously on his head, Sasuke and Naruto were now seated on wooden stools beside the bed, having gotten there after another short squabble about Sasuke's socks, Naruto's shoes, and random assorted clothing and accessory. Iruka was trying hard not to laugh, since it would do him no good if he were to worsen his wounds by guffawing like a madman. "What was that mission you were talking about again, sensei?" Sasuke's frustrated voice reached the Chuunin's ears, and he chuckled slightly.  
  
The amusement soon slid off his face, though, and he addressed his two students seriously. "The Forbidden Scroll has been stolen," he stated clearly. "And we have to get it back before someone manages to open it."  
  
"The Forbidden Scroll?" Both Naruto and Sasuke echoed at the same time, then turned to glare at each other jealously. Again, Iruka found himself fighting the urge to burst out laughing.  
  
"That's right," the instructor replied after a short silence. "Hokage-sama hid it in this house so that it can be safe from intruders and bandits, since the common view is that the Hokage office has all the secret scrolls of the village. Last night, while trying to ward off the attackers, however, I was unable to stop them from carrying the scroll away." He lowered his head dejectedly. "But we can't do anything without first reporting its loss to the village chief. Can you boys make a trip to the village chief's place and report this event? Then he will give you further instructions from there. Please, boys, I'm counting on you."  
  
Naruto rose to his feet immediately, striking a pose of determination. "Leave this to me, Iruka-sensei! Uzumaki Naruto's the most reliable person in the world for things like--"  
  
"... - things like tripping over his own feet and forgetting to turn his tap off, I'd bet," Sasuke mumbled incoherently, but loudly enough so that Naruto immediately caught onto the satire.  
  
"Sasuke! You asshole! You bastard! You corkscrew! You wet blanket! You-MRGHPM!!"  
  
"Iruka-sensei," Sasuke drawled lazily, having stood up and removed his forehead protector to gag Naruto from behind in the space of one second. The rowdy blond thrashed violently for freedom against the calmer boy, but was not successful. He continued to try to screech through his gag, resulting in a series of muffled throat noises. "I'm afraid I don't understand why we both have to go to report this. There are too many people on the streets out there who would probably kill me on sight. Not just that, they'd probably kill the idiot on sight too. We're not going to make it to the destination in one piece anyway I see it."  
  
Iruka held a finger up. "That's why this is a 'mission' and not an 'errand,' isn't that right?"  
  
Properly surprised at the way Iruka had phrased that, Sasuke's hand loosened on his forehead protector, and Naruto took this opportunity to push him away and bite his hand again. "OWW!!" The raven-haired boy leapt backwards instinctively. "Dammit, Naruto!!"  
  
"BOYS!" Iruka finally could bear it no more, and yelled at the both of them in his best school-teacher voice. This was going to hurt later, but for now, he wasn't sure if he'd rather face those attackers from yesterday again with a plastic spoon and paper cup for sword and shield, or if he'd rather hear Naruto and Sasuke shout at each other again. Amusing as it was, this was going to get them all nowhere. "Stop behaving like 3-year-olds! Listen to me and just do what I say, all right?" He stared sternly at the two boys, who hung their heads down in shame. "Both of you are to get to the chief's house /undetected/ by anybody in the village. Then you report to him about the missing scroll and wait for further instructions from him. Got that?"  
  
Two heads nodded. The darker-haired one then looked up and quipped, "But those attackers may return. What about you?"  
  
Iruka glanced briefly to a side, wondering if he should tell them that the Hokage himself had sent him a pigeon messenger to inform him that he was aware of the attack last night and had already taken action against the perpetuators. Therefore that meant that this place was safe for now. The problem was that the Scroll remained missing, and Iruka had the impression that the Hokage didn't know about that little tidbit. Eventually he looked back and said, "Don't worry about me. Just go get the mission done, then come back as soon as you can. I... err," he looked around for something to reassure the children, eventually letting his glance settle on the slightly snoring Kakashi. "I have... Kakashi here with me! So don't worry about it too much, okay?"  
  
Both boys turned to look at the lump of bandages, then stared at Iruka with disbelief.  
  
"You see," Iruka pointed out again, "if you get back here fast enough, nothing will happen to me. No matter what, this needs to be reported, and you have to do it. Because otherwise, /I/ will do it, even if I have to die doing it." He laughed inwardly at the looks of pure distraught on the duo's faces. "So just get back here as soon as you can, and all will be well." He smiled. "Don't worry, boys. I'll be all right. Don't let this stay on your conscience."  
  
There was a long, brooding silence.  
  
"... Promise?" The question was asked so quietly, Iruka almost mistook it as a random wildlife noise. He looked at the blond boy, who had his head lowered and was biting hard on his lips. "You promise you'll be all right? You'll still be here when we come back?"  
  
The school teacher knew there was much more than verbal confirmation that Naruto was seeking for from that question, and he understood completely. Beckoning the blond over, he ruffled his golden locks affectionately and smiled, saying, "Of course, Naruto. I'll even warm some ramen for you."  
  
The blue eyes lit up with renewed power, and Naruto stepped away, grin in place. "All right! Ramen, ramen!! Come on, Sasuke! Ramen's a-waiting!!"  
  
"I never said I was going to-" The Uchiha was about to protest when he caught the pleading look his ex-teacher threw in his way. Naruto turned around to stare impatiently at his partner, while Sasuke sighed, putting a hand over his eyes.  
  
He followed the bouncing boy while mumbling something under his breath, but before they both vanished into the day, Iruka distinctly heard Sasuke throw a sentence back into the house.  
  
"I want onigiri, not ramen."  
  
  
  
  
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Part 4 of 7  
27/5/2004  
tougenkyou . net / xd  
  
[slaps forehead] how could i have forgotten? ah yes, i must mention that Vanyel Ashkevron's works have motivated me to sit down and really look through this fic properly before posting it. if you have time, and think you need a good, in-character fix of naruto fanfic, i'd highly recommend you look at her fics. you can find her in my favs. :3 enjoy! 


	5. Chapter Four

NARUTO © Kishimoto Masashi • Shueisha • Studio Pierrot • TV Tokyo. All rights reserved. Non-profit fun ahead! Fanfic named by Iruka.  
  
Warnings: Eventual fluffy friendship between the boys. Do not read if thou art not a fan of fluff!  
  
  
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Crossroads of Life  
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Chapter Four  
  
  
  
The trip to the chief's house was not fraught with as much danger as Sasuke feared it would have been. Naruto knew all the back alleys and unused routes there were in the squares and public places - he had cultivated the habit of always mapping out his escape routes ever since he began his prankster career. This proved to be handy, for now they sped through the bustling city central at top speed through various nooks and crannies without anyone turning for a second look. Soon, they arrived at the other side of town, near a thatched, humble looking cemented building.  
  
"That's his house there," Naruto whispered quietly to his companion, who nodded and stared at the house. Such poor quality for someone who was apparently of some status. Did anybody even live here at all?  
  
The blond led the way around the walls of the building and leapt into the backyard quietly. Sasuke followed suit, and glanced questioningly at the blond, who had a maniacal grin on his face much like the one he had when he was going to throw the water balloons on the butcher. And Sasuke had never forgotten what /that/ had resulted in. He nudged Naruto rudely and whispered, "Why aren't we going in by the front? We're not here to steal anything or pull a prank - we're here for a mission!"  
  
"Don't be such a wuss!" Was Naruto's immediate response. The boy tinkered slightly with a shuttered window and soon they were letting themselves into the long, empty hallway of the house interior. "We're just going to take the old guy by surprise! He never gets out much! Gotta spice up his life a little!"  
  
"Nothing good ever comes out of any of your bright ideas," Sasuke grumbled, although there was no accuse in his tone. "Come on, let's just get this over with."  
  
They approached a simple looking spiral staircase which obviously led to the upper levels. Naruto turned and put a finger on his lip, warning Sasuke with his eyes. The taller boy unwillingly acquiesced, then noticed that Naruto had shut off all traces of his existence again. It looked like he was serious about 'spicing up' the old man's life. A leer decorated the blond's face, before he disappeared up the stairwell in a blink.  
  
Sasuke shook his head unhappily, wondering if he even wanted to follow. Maybe he should wait for the screams first. Besides, he wasn't as good as Naruto was with chakra control - any seasoned ninja could spot him if he got too close. Sighing at the self discovery, he sat glumly at the foot of the staircase, counting the time left until he would hear screams Naruto's noisy laughter.  
  
He waited.  
  
And waited.  
  
And waited.  
  
For what seemed like an unimaginably long amount of time he waited.  
  
Suddenly, he stood up with a start and widened eyes. How could he have forgotten? The entire village was out for Naruto's life. Despite what the boy himself might say, the village chief could be a shady character himself! What if Naruto was-... ?!  
  
Without really thinking, he dashed up the stairwell, pausing abruptly when he emerged on the other side to find himself staring down another long, dark and lonely hallway. There was just one discrepancy - the golden splotch of hair standing just barely outside a large, wooden door situated on one side of the hallway. There were voices from behind the door that even he could hear from where he stood. Sasuke squinted. He could not really see Naruto from this distance, but the fact that Naruto had yet to enter the room to make his grand entrance bothered him. He had not known the blond to be someone who held back. The scene was worrying.  
  
Although his chakra had yet to fully recover from his medical stint last night, Sasuke concentrated, and to the best of his ability, suppressed his chakra, trying to imitate the way Naruto did it. He doubted the blond would let him off if he simply strode over like that and upset his plans for a surprise entrance. The least he could do was to try to mask his existence.  
  
Carefully, the raven-haired boy made his way over to the blond.  
  
He was surprised to find a look of pure trauma on his companion's face when he came within sight.  
  
There were beads of sweat clinging onto the boy's face, but Sasuke knew it could not have been because of the cool hallway. Naruto had yet to acknowledge his approach, proving to him that the boy's mind was on something else. There was hardly anything in the hallway that proved to be able to induce so much shock, so there could only be one possibility.  
  
"... after all, Naruto did kill Iruka's parents."  
  
The voices from behind the door.  
  
This time, it was Sasuke's turn to be shocked. He glared at the large door, as if it was the door itself which had spoken. Naruto? Kill Iruka's parents? That was impossible, considering Naruto was the same age he was, and could barely pull a punch without using his shadow clones. Was this why Naruto was so shell-shocked?  
  
Before he could reach over and yank the doorknob, the door flew open from the inside, and along with the flinging came two kunai at top speed. Sasuke glanced at the unmoving Naruto and cursed silently to himself. Undoubtedly, he himself was the one to have given them both away. Quickly, he grabbed the blond and rolled them both to a side. The kunai embedded themselves onto the wall behind with loud thuds, making the boy hold his breath in a rush of cold excitement.  
  
Any slower and the kunai would have been embedded in their heads instead.  
  
Two shadows emerged from the brightly lit room which Naruto and Sasuke had been stalking. Immediately, the darker-haired youth snapped into instincts-mode. He crouched in front of the slowly recovering Naruto, who had blinked at him after they had tossed themselves to a side, and held a kunai in a defensive mode. His eyes mapped all the possible objects for Kawarimi and also a possible escape route. Quickly after that he returned his attention to his opponents, who were now fully visible against the splendour of the room lights.  
  
And he gaped like a goldfish out of water.  
  
"Oh," one of the man - the one with the smoking pipe immediately recognised Sasuke. "Aren't you..."  
  
"Ho... Hokage-sama..." Sasuke acknowledged, out of pure reaction. While the old man smiled warmly, he cursed himself for having said that out loud. Now he was /really/ going to get sent back to Konoha. There was /no way/ he could win the Hokage - aging though he may be, in a one-on-one. He gritted his teeth and looked away in despondance. Coming here was a mistake! A mistake!  
  
"Hokage... ?" It was Naruto's innocent question that pulled him back to reality. He glanced behind him slightly and noticed that the boy no longer donned a look of shock and was instead looking like any other confused child would. The Uchiha cocked an eyebrow.  
  
"You don't know who the Hokage is?"  
  
Immediately, the blond narrowed his eyes at Sasuke. Before he could shoot his angered reply, however, the Hokage laughed heartily, attracting all attention to himself.  
  
"Come on, why are we all standing here? Get in and we'll talk," the old man smiled again, and gestured towards the room.  
  
"Of course!" Naruto grinned right back and strode confidently into the room, the complete opposite of the frightened young man that was standing before the door, listening in to a conversation he should not have been listening to earlier. Sasuke stared at Naruto's back, unaware of the concern that was manifesting through his frown. Nobody should have been able to turn his mood around so quickly - especially after just hearing an earth-shaking piece of information like that. He saw from the corner of his eyes the old Hokage staring at him, however, and quickly darted into the room after Naruto, followed by the two old gentlemen.  
  
He knew he was in some real trouble this time.  
  
But somehow, he could not stop thinking about Naruto and how that declaration must have affected him.  
  
"I think," Sarutobi put his pipe down, and looked seriously at the two younglings, "that you both have a lot of explaining to do."  
  
  
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They took turns to recap what had happened as far as they could remember as regards the event Iruka had wanted them to report, carefully leaving out the fact that they had eavesdropped a single, disturbing statement of fact. Well, that was all Sasuke had heard anyway - Naruto had apparently heard more, having been there longer, and whatever the two old men had been discussing earlier must have been of concern to the blond, seeing how shocked he had been rendered even before Sasuke caught up with him. Out of a mutual, silent agreement, neither Naruto nor Sasuke mentioned it.  
  
The report itself did not take long, since Sasuke was used to giving succint and detailed oral reports, but Naruto's constant interjections made it difficult for him to concentrate. When they had finally finished their delivery, it was already late afternoon, and the birds were chirping back at their nests already. The village chief was looking with pity and concern at the duo before him, but Sasuke wondered how true his expressions translated into actions.  
  
After all, he was the one who had made that bold, lying statement about Naruto, wasn't he?  
  
Sarutobi moved and rose to full height, seemingly absorbed in pondering something. It was Naruto who next spoke up, saying, "Iruka-sensei said we'd get further instructions if we come here. So like, what are those instructions, old guy?"  
  
"Naruto," the village chief shook his head. "Don't be rude to the Hokage."  
  
Naruto pouted, but said nothing in retort. He must have some vague semblance of respect for this old man, Sasuke thought to himself.  
  
"Other than," the Hokage spoke up, having moved to the window to glance at the sights outside, "the problems you boys have highlighted to me just now, I have noticed another strange thing about this village."  
  
He took a pause to turn around and look everyone in the eye. "Since my first step into this area of the village, I have felt an alien, malicious presence. It has the aura of a Kuchiyose, but yet I have never come across a summon of this sort of malignant aura before. There is certainly an atmosphere of strife and contention in this area here."  
  
Sasuke wondered if he was the only one to catch the village chief flinching slightly, before reverting back to the expression of a concerned, eager village chief. "That is very bad, Hokage-sama," the old man was saying. "Is there anything we can do to improve the situation?"  
  
For a short while, the Hokage scrutinised the village chief, and Sasuke was hopeful that he had caught onto something. Soon, however, he turned away and said, "We'll have to seek the presence out, but until we do, we cannot do anything about it. In the meantime, I want to tell you that I will severely punish the people who have disrupted Naruto's life, and will severely punish anyone else who continues to do so. Is that clear, elder?" He shot a narrowed, sideway glance at the village chief, who withered slightly and nodded.  
  
"I... understand, Hokage-sama."  
  
"Good," Sarutobi sighed, then walked over to Naruto, who was staring at him in absolute awe. "And you, Naruto, should stop playing tricks on the villagers if you don't want them on your tail all the time."  
  
"Hear, hear," Sasuke could not help but blurt, earning a death-glare from Naruto.  
  
"But they don't like me whether or not I play tricks anyway!" He huffed up self-righteously and retorted.  
  
"Sad, but true," Sasuke once again, found himself unable to stop himself from interjecting. Naruto's antics were growing on him way too quickly for his own good.  
  
"In that case, why don't I make you a deal?" Sarutobi was grinning when he said this, and Sasuke decided that this was a grin that screamed 'bad idea' in neon pink. "I'm going to send you and Sasuke on a mission to retrieve the Forbidden Scroll. If you manage to get it back successfully, I will consider letting you join the Ninja Academy," he had to pause slightly to hold a hand up to stop the protests of the village chief, who had stood up but had yet to say a word. The chief saw the gesture and sat back down rather dejectedly, a trace of dissatisfaction evident in his aura for a split second. Then he was back to being the amiable, all-smiles village chief. Sasuke decided that he really hated this guy.  
  
Sarutobi continued, when he saw that no one else would attempt to disrupt him, "You've always wanted to be a ninja, haven't you?"  
  
"Yes!!" Naruto nearly jumped out of his seat in joy. "But, who are you, oji-san? You're so cool!"  
  
The Hokage laughed at the innocent pronouncement. "You could call me the principal of the Ninja Academy. Sasuke knows me too. You can ask him for more information later." The old man gestured, ignoring Sasuke's blatant /why-me?!/ look.  
  
"Wow!" Naruto had stood up by now and had his fists balled up with excitement slightly away from his chest. "Does that mean you're the strongest ninja in the world?"  
  
Sarutobi laughed again. "Hardly, Naruto. But I am the strongest in the school." He stated, no trace of brag or pomp in his tone at all.  
  
"All righty!" Naruto now stood in one of his usual poses and pointed dramatically at the old man, "I've decided! I'm going to defeat you and then I'll become the Hokage! The strongest ninja of...-MRM!!"  
  
"If you just shut up for a minute or two nobody'll think you're mute!" Sasuke growled dangerously from over Naruto's shoulder, having clamped his mouth shut with an iron grip yet again. He had lost count of how many times he had to do that to shut the idiot up now, but it was effective, so he wasn't complaining. Naruto, though strong, was hardly as strong as a seasoned ninja like Sasuke, and so while the blond attempted yet again to struggle against the Uchiha's hand so as to get his speaking rights back, Sasuke bowed slightly to a highly bemused Hokage and said, "I'm sorry Hokage-sama. Ignore the idiot. We will retrieve the Scroll at once. Will there be anything else?"  
  
Upon hearing that, the blond momentarily stopped struggling, possibly shocked at the amount of politeness Sasuke was giving this Hokage guy. The raven-haired teen was, in actual fact, just dying to get out of the Hokage's area of reach. There was no way he was going to get dragged back to Konoha like a sorry bug after all the dramatics he had pulled with his family and friends. No way!  
  
Therefore he breathed a huge inward sigh of relief when the Hokage smiled and nodded. "If you succeed in finding the Scroll," he said kindly, "then that will be all my business with you." He smiled, when it became evident that Sasuke understood the full import of those words.  
  
"All the best."  
  
Sasuke quickly bowed, not wanting to linger anymore, for who knew when the Hokage would change his mind? He then vanished from the scene quickly with Naruto via the window.  
  
As soon as he got nearly far away enough, he let Naruto go and let all the air he had been holding out. He still couldn't believe he had managed to run away from the Hokage. Next time he wouldn't be so fortunate. He had to watch his step from now on. And he was about to think the situation through long and hard until, of course, he felt a sharp set of teeth clamp down on his hand.  
  
"ARGH! GODDAMMIT!! NARUTO!!" Sasuke wrenched his smarting arm free and quickly backed away from the insanely grinning blond.  
  
"No! God damn /you/!" The blond was saying, while sticking his tongue out. "How many bloody times do you have to clamp your stupid hand over my mouth? If you didn't want to hear my voice you could have just /asked/ nicely, bastard!"  
  
"In case you haven't noticed, I /did/ ask nicely. It just didn't go through to your thick, retard brain, blockhead!" He saw that Naruto was all riled up to fire a reply and quickly added. "Oh, stop it already! We have to get that Scroll back, you remember? Do you wanna be a ninja or not?"  
  
That effectively sobered the boy up. He grinned with all his teeth in sight and quickly replied, "Of course! Come on and follow me, Sasuke! We'll get that Scroll and prove to that Hokage guy I'm so powerful that I can be Hokage too! Nyeh nyeh!"  
  
Although in disagreement to the latter part of that statement, Sasuke did join Naruto in walking slowly towards wherever he was going to walk to. "I wait for that day with great anticipation," he sarcastically commented, rolling his eyes when Naruto turned around to grin at him again.  
  
There were so many questions he wanted to ask the blond, just as he was sure Naruto must have equally many questions to throw his way.  
  
But when they exchanged a serious look of determination between each other, all doubts were thrown to the back of their minds.  
  
It was action time.  
  
  
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The man had long since dismissed his guest, and was now travelling down a cobbled, dirty path into darkness, with nothing but the pale light of a small, flickering candle. His footsteps echoed along the pathway, sounding eerie even to himself. But he had much more important things on his mind than fear at the moment. Reaching the end of his trek, he stood face to face with a bolted, metallic door, rusting at the edges.  
  
His moment of hesitation was brief. A wrinkled hand reached out to push the heavy door open with a loud, yawning sound.  
  
The antagonistic aura that filled the air made his hair stand on ends.  
  
But he was far from afraid. His lips twisted into a malicious grin. From a dark corner of the cell he pulled out a familiar looking scroll and handed it to the darkness in the other corner. A slimey hand snaked out and grabbed it, filling the room with a low growl at the same time.  
  
The man then stooped slightly and whispered, "Find the people whose scent has been left on this Scroll...  
  
"And kill them. All of them!"  
  
  
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Naruto and Sasuke had firstly returned to the dishevelled house to inform Iruka of the updates. The Chuunin had nodded and wished them all the best. He then insisted on making them both ramen. Since the table was not in a particular condition suitable for usage, both boys settled for sitting on the floor while waiting for their dinner. In particular, Naruto was bouncing away in anticipation. Sasuke had simply scowled, especially after Iruka told him that there was no rice in the house to make his onigiri with.  
  
"Ramen! Ramen!" The blond said for what must have been the hundredth time in the three minute wait alone. Not only that, Naruto was so happy, he had began to roll the sleeping Kakashi bandage around like it was a toy. "Aren't you excited, Kakashi? We're gonna have ramen for dinner tonight!"  
  
"Stop shaking the dog, Naruto," Sasuke was looking at the blond with disapproval. He did /not/ want his Tsukiyomi to go to waste. Even /now/ he had yet to fully recover from the complicated Genjutsu, and he was probably going to be in withdrawal for a few days. "He needs all the rest he can get."  
  
"Yes, rest, yes," Naruto agreed choppily, still grinning. He lifted the large, sleeping dog into his lap and craddled him like a bolster instead. "But he needs food to recover quickly too, doesn't he? Isn't that right, Kakashi?" Naruto rocked the bandaged dog gently.  
  
Sasuke decided that he would do better to save his breath and simply let the idiot do what he wanted to. After all, it was not like he was tossing the dog around like a frisbee, so there was no danger yet. He noticed a splotch of black seated regally beside him and turned his head to find himself staring at Itachi, who was casually curled up in a ball of black fluff, staring at Naruto glomp the sleeping Kakashi with something like vague interest in his eyes.  
  
Noticing Sasuke's stare, Itachi turned to look at the younger Uchiha. They stared at each other for a long time, until Iruka emerged from the kitchen and placed two bowls of instant ramen with some vegetables and eggs thrown in for extra measure in front of the boys. This effectively broke the Uchiha staring competition, and Itachi stood up, stretched, and bounded off into whatever dark corner he usually stayed in during this time of the day. Sasuke sighed and picked his food up, grimacing. Why was he always getting into trouble like these?  
  
"Ooh!" Naruto, on the other hand, was thoroughly enjoying himself. "This is so delicious, Iruka-sensei! You make the best ramen! It's been so long since I've had them!"  
  
Of course, he had blathered all of that through a mouth full of dangling noodles, and briefly Sasuke wondered how he had even managed to decipher the words. He prodded his ramen gently and took an experimental bite. The taste of miso lingered briefly in his mouth, and he blinked. The taste wasn't so bad. He could get used to this. Although he could still /not/ see how Naruto could eat it everyday.  
  
Iruka had laughed lightly when Naruto commended his cooking. He sat down beside the boys, ignoring the death glare Sasuke was giving him and patting them both on the head again. Naruto grinned at the touch and Sasuke scowled. "Iruka-sensei, shouldn't you be in bed with all your injuries?" He quickly asked, trying to hide his embarassment. His family was not exactly very pro-touch, and if he did get touched, it usually resulted in pain, therefore his discomfort with the situation. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed that Naruto had looked up from his ramen at that statement.  
  
"That's right, Iruka-sensei!" The blond's voice was muffled, but horrified nevertheless. "You're injured! You shouldn't be doing all these things! Come on, get back and rest already!" The boy made as if he was going to stand up and haul the Chuunin back into the bed, when said Chuunin shook his head and sighed.  
  
"Naruto, Sasuke," he began, voice low and sombre. "I am not a kid, and I know how to take care of myself. Both of you handled the situation last night very well." He glanced up slightly with pride at the duo. "So I'm recovering faster than anyone would, all thanks to the both of you. So don't worry about me. Worry more about your mission. You have a lot at stake too, don't you?"  
  
This quietened the two boys down, and their thoughts began to drift, as they slowly nibbled away at their dinner. Iruka smiled at their pensiveness. It was rare that he could ever motivate his students to think about their lives for themselves, but with Naruto and Sasuke, it seemed like they had it all planned out in their hearts already.  
  
As the silent dinner slowly drew to a close, Iruka stood up and said to the boys, "Whatever it is, I want you to remember just one thing."  
  
He saw a pair of blue eyes and pair of obidisian eyes lock attentively on him, and almost laughed. Instead, however, he continued.  
  
"True strength only comes when you're protecting something precious to you."  
  
A breeze of acknowledgement seemed to blow through the house at that statement. Even Sasuke was caught off guard at Iruka's staunch revelation.  
  
"Something... precious?" The next voice to be heard, however, was Naruto's. His eyes were wide with sincere questioning.  
  
"It may be something you love very much," Iruka continued, still smiling, "like a book, a toy - even plants and animals, anything that you love, and has sentimental value. Or sometimes," he held the word for a while, letting the previous information sink in first, "it may be a person. A family member. An associate. Or," he made doubly sure to look at Sasuke in the eye at this part, "a friend. Whatever it is, when you find yourself fighting to protect something at the risk of death - that's where you'll find true strength. Understand?"  
  
Sasuke quickly looked away, not wishing to answer that. In theory, he understood what Iruka said. In actuality, however, he had no idea how it worked. He didn't think he was able to give his life for anybody, anything, anyone at all. It was just not how his life worked. Stealing a glance at Naruto, he could tell that the blond was moved. He sighed. The little idiot was moved by anything!  
  
"That's kindda abstract, Iruka-sensei," Naruto was saying, still with eyes wide with amazement. "But you know, I think I sorta get it. Strength comes from protecting things dear to me, right? Like, when I get beaten up by the villagers so they don't hurt Kakashi or Itachi, right?"  
  
"Getting beaten up doesn't really seem like strength to me," Sasuke mumbled softly.  
  
"Not really, Sasuke," Iruka turned his attention to the darker-haired boy, smiling gently. "Sometimes, strength is demonstrated in your willingness to suffer for the people you love."  
  
The Uchiha ninja's face twisted into incomprehension, then he snorted and stood up. "I'm putting the bowl away," he stated blandly, before disappearing into the kitchen, leaving Naruto and Iruka staring after his departure trail.  
  
Naruto, in particular, had a pensive, thinking expression on his face.  
  
  
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A while later, when the moon slowly crept into the inky-black skies, the house descended into its usual chaos.  
  
"But why??" Naruto pointed dramatically and screeched.  
  
"Naruto," Iruka's voice was firm, "Kakashi has yet to recover from his wounds. You /cannot/ ask him to help you out with the finding of the Scroll. /You/ are the one trying to be a ninja here, not Kakashi!"  
  
From the floor, Kakashi woofed in agreement.  
  
"Argh! Not you too, Kakashi!" Naruto grabbed his hair in frustration. "But Iruka-sensei! I don't even know /where/ to start searching! I'd bet even a real ninja would need some tools for something like this!"  
  
"Idiot!" Iruka drove a fist into Naruto's head. "You don't always get to be able to bring tools along with you on your missions! What if you have to go solo, without any partners and communication? What will you do? This is training, Naruto! Training! You can't always depend on others to get things done sometimes!"  
  
From the corner where he had been ruminating together with Itachi, Sasuke let out a loud sigh. "Iruka-sensei," he said while holding a hand over his head, which was hurting with all the shouting that was going on. "You do have a point. But so does Naruto. Sensei, this isn't training. This is a mission. From the Hokage himself. There's something of utmost importance we need to recover and we shouldn't waste a single moment more. We could use a bit of help from Kakashi - and we won't strain him out too much. What do you say, sensei? Anymore time lost and we'll have lost the Forbidden Scroll forever to those criminals who-" He paused here, fire burning in his eyes for a while, before resuming, "... nevermind. Anyway, I think I actually agree with the idiot this time. We should get Kakashi to sniff out the whereabouts of the Scroll."  
  
While Iruka blinked at Sasuke's lengthy monologue, Naruto had growled and yelped, "Don't call me an idiot!", entirely missing out on the other point Sasuke was making, in that the Uchiha was agreeing with the blond. Sasuke rolled his eyes and refused to dignify that with a reply. He looked instead to Iruka for an agreement.  
  
The sensei had stood rooted in surprise for a while. Quickly, though, his surprise melted into a pleasant smile. "I guess you're right, Sasuke." He was saying. "But don't worry about the Scroll getting lost. The village area has been completely cordoned off since the situation. Not a single ant will leave or enter the terrain without Hokage-sama knowing about it. We're taking no chances here."  
  
Sasuke looked vaguely impressed, whereas Naruto looked confused. "What are you guys talking about?" He asked, only to have Iruka waving in his face.  
  
"Don't bother about that now, Naruto. Concentrate on your mission. Everybody else is an enemy now. Don't let your guard down." The Academy teacher warned.  
  
"Iruka-sensei!" Naruto quickly bounced to his feet and replied with excitement. "Who do you think I am? I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I'm going to become the strongest ninja the world, the mo... mayuge-"  
  
"Ho. Ka. Ge." Sasuke interrupted.  
  
"..." The blond shot him a glare. "Yeah! Hokage! Then I'll kick the asses of all those people who beat you up, sensei! Just you wait and see!"  
  
The Chuunin laughed heartily again at Naruto's declaration. "I'm looking forward to it, Naruto," he beamed at the boy, who beamed back shamelessly. "But the Scroll is secure here, and it's now quite late. Take a rest before you start your mission tomorrow. Better to be fully powered up than to be half dead, and, if it's tomorrow," Iruka wagged a finger, "I'll even let you take Kakashi along."  
  
Naruto's eyes lit up. "YAAY!" He leapt for joy. "All right, tomorrow it is then! I can't wait!"  
  
While the blond danced around the room in joy, Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the smiling teacher. "Are you sure that's a good idea, sensei?" He asked quietly. "I thought it was a really important Scroll that would give us a lot of trouble if it ended up in the wrong hands?"  
  
"It is," Iruka replied, but shrugged. "But I have Hokage-sama's word that the Scroll won't be running out of this area of the village. That's got to say something, right?"  
  
"Why doesn't Hokage-sama retrieve the Scroll himself?" Sasuke probed further, unable to reconcile the facts. "Since he's here and everything..."  
  
"He has some other agenda on his mind, doubtlessly," the sensei glanced away from Sasuke's eyes. "Perhaps he is a little too busy for this, perhaps he needs to do something else first, or perhaps," he laid a reassuring hand on the Uchiha's shoulder, "he simply trusts the both of you to be able to pull it off. Whatever it is, we'll wait and see first. I'll try to compile some information for you about the people who stole the Scroll while you guys take a rest. You'd need that, right?" He watched as Sasuke nodded mutely. "Then you need to give me some time too. That said and done, shall we turn in for the night?"  
  
The raven-haired boy gave his ex-teacher one last, scrutinising look, before turning away and backing into the corner he had taken to, by the fireplace, where Itachi also was hanging out in.  
  
"Good night," he offered curtly, then curled up into a comfortable ball, leaned against the corners, and closed his eyes to indicate that he would entertain no more correspondances. Itachi curled up at his feet and slept as well - not that he wasn't already lazing around doing nothing.  
  
This left the elated Naruto and the bemused Iruka the only conscious beings in the room.  
  
Not for long though, for Naruto bounded up to Sasuke and yelled, "You! Get out of /my/ corner! And give my Itachi cat heater back to me! You have no idea how cold it gets around here at nights-"  
  
Before Sasuke could do something drastic, Iruka smothered Naruto from behind with a blanket, causing him to crash head-first into the wall. Sasuke smirked, still with his eyes closed, and turned onto another side, allowing the blond to slink down the wall into a puddle of goo on the floor. In front of them both, Iruka clapped his hands loudly.  
  
"Keep quiet, boys. You're huddling together tonight. No, Naruto, don't give me that dirty look. A ninja has to be able to survive under any condition with anybody - enemy or friend. This is a good time for you to learn, so be silent! Or no ramen in the morning!"  
  
Immediately the blond bit his retort back. He silently curled up beside Sasuke, back to back and mumbled a string of complaints under his breath. Satisfied with this truce, Iruka made his way back to the bed, stopping before the bundled silver dog to pick him up and toss him over into the huddled group at the corner.  
  
"Don't forget Kakashi!" He jested mirthlessly, and the dog barked in protest. Who /knew/ what would happen if he had to huddle together with a group that consisted of an unpredictable blond and two psychopaths from the same clan - both of whom were stark, raving mad in their own crazy way? He howled continually for Iruka's attention, hoping that the man would give heed to his plight, but it fell on deaf ears.  
  
Naruto, however, turned over and bonked the dog once on the head. "Shut up, Kakashi! Go to sleep! Long day tomorrow!"  
  
Although he stopped howling, the Jounin continued to whine. He was unable to stand up on his feet and walk away from the group because Naruto had bundled his entire body into a ball of bandages. He sniffled again and tried to roll away instead - until Itachi stretched luxuriously and easily blocked the dog from rolling anywhere.  
  
They stared down at each other for a long time.  
  
Then Kakashi swore he saw the cat smirk. Quite literally, the cat gave him a human smirk, before rolling over and draping himself over Kakashi's bandaged body, effectively stopping him from rolling anywhere now.  
  
Despite what Itachi's form may otherwise suggest, the Uchiha was very, very strong.  
  
Kakashi growled. If he could use his paws, he would have delivered Itachi a doggy punch there and then.  
  
But other than that, the night was peacefully spent.  
  
  
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Sasuke opened his eyes the next morning to find Kakashi lying on his stomach and Itachi draped across his face. He immediately gave a muffled yelp, successfully waking the black cat up and driving the creature away from feeding him anymore fur. Sitting up with a start, he gasped for breath and with annoyance rolled the still bandaged Kakashi away from him. Before he could stand up to confront the situation, he heard peals of laughter from a side, and quickly looked in the direction it came from.  
  
Naruto was trying to stifle his laughter, with a rather sheepish Iruka standing beside him. Upon seeing that Sasuke had bolted awake and was now glaring at them with vehemence, Naruto burst into loud, noisy laughter. Iruka rubbed the back of his head in embarassment.  
  
"Sorry Sasuke," he confessed, "You were sleeping too soundly to be awaken by any method at all, and I couldn't stop him from doing all of that..."  
  
"HAHAHAHA!" Naruto pointed rudely at the still shocked Sasuke. "Hahahah! Three minutes! Three whole minutes with a cat lying across your face and a dog lying across your stomach before you finally woke up! Oh man! That's gotta be a first! BUAHAHA! Sasuke sleeps like a pig!!"  
  
"I do not!" The raven-haired boy protested, clambering onto his feet and gritting his teeth. It was true. He had always been a light sleeper - especially after his ascension to Chuunin rank. Along with the promotion came more and more mission which could mean the difference between life and death by mere seconds of slumber. Three minutes was... unacceptably long. He attributed it to a lack of chakra and a lack of life-threatening missions just before he left the main portion of the village. Slapping a hand over his face, he mulled silently while Naruto continued laughing.  
  
"All right, that's enough, you both," Iruka eventually cut in with a slightly annoyed voice. "Wash up, have your food, and go. Don't stick around here anymore than you should. Ninjas are never late!"  
  
Itachi took this moment in time to pin Kakashi with a steady stare. And Kakashi quite literally stuck his tongue out at the cat.  
  
After a while, when all routinely matters had been taken care of, Sasuke quipped, "Iruka-sensei, how much information about those thieves do we have on hand?"  
  
The Academy teacher fished out a couple of sheets of paper from nowhere and frowned. "Not much. I don't know the people of this village as well as I thought I had. I mean, I can single out all the attackers if I met them on the streets, but I can't remember anything about them - profession, background, etc, save for a few more familiar faces."  
  
Sasuke took the sheets of paper from Iruka and pondered over them while a concerned Naruto looked on in the background. "Naruto, this man... the butcher..." The boy turned slightly and showed the information to his companion, who nodded.  
  
"There's only one butcher in this neighbourhood, and that description sure fits him," his growl slowly evolved into a snarl. "When I get my hands on his slimey, greasy hide..."  
  
"That butcher, you boys are talking about..." Iruka blinked at the gapping entrance of the house, where there used to be a door but now was no more. "Is he of... medium height, with dark, curly hair?"  
  
Naruto and Sasuke both glanced up at the Chuunin. "Yes..." Sasuke replied cautiously, wondering what the man was driving at.  
  
"Was he also... chubby? Like," Iruka drove his fists into his cheeks, eking out a semi-chubby look. "Like this? And this?" He released his cheeks and formed a pot-belly gesture in front of his waist.  
  
"Yes! He's got the roundest beer belly I've ever seen in the village!" Naruto cheerily replied, causing Sasuke to glare in disbelief at how thick headed he was. He, on the other hand, concentrated on observing Iruka's reaction.  
  
"So he's medium height, curly-haired, chubby sized, wears all while, stained with splotches of grease and blood here and there, no?"  
  
"Yes yes, absolutely right, Iruka-sensei! You've met that boar before?"  
  
"Hm," Iruka replied non-committally. It was at this point of time Sasuke realised that Iruka's eyes had never left the hole that was the entrance of the house all this while. Before he could turn his head to find out, though, Iruka provided the reason why.  
  
"Not really, Naruto," his tone was unreadable, "but I'm sure that must be him lying outside the gates right now."  
  
There was a slight pause, as Naruto and Sasuke slowly turned their heads to look in the direction Iruka was pointing at.  
  
A horror stirred in the pits of their stomach, and they were both momentarily stunned to see that Iruka was right.  
  
The butcher, bloodied and battered, laid across the gates to Naruto's house, lifeless and motionless.  
  
"What the-" Sasuke's fear quickly snapped out, as well trained instincts took over. He got quickly to his feet and armed himself lightly, just in case there was an attack. Iruka too had gotten onto his feet, although Naruto was still staring at the unmoving figure of the butcher with something akin to fright mixed with horror. In that pose, they waited for further movement on the part of the collapsed butcher.  
  
But there was none.  
  
Sasuke eventually relaxed, noticing as an afterthought that Kakashi - who had been relieved of his bandages evidently by Naruto earlier this morning, and Itachi were both teemed and ready for action, standing on either sides of the confused Naruto. He almost laughed. Until a sadistic, vicious aura permeated his natural chakra field.  
  
He tensed instinctively, and Naruto shuddered violently in reaction. Naturally, Sasuke thought to himself, since Naruto had much better chakra control and therefore had a much wider and sensitive chakra field. He cursed under his breath. What was going on?  
  
Very quickly, Sasuke got his answer. A low, moaning sound came forth from the forest near the house, and a dark figure slowly stalked towards it. When finally, it reached the glories of the morning rays, Sasuke found himself gulping in sheer surprise and taking an instinctive step backwards, almost tumbling over Naruto in the event. His lips moved to form words, but no sound escaped from his mouth. Even Iruka, arguably the more experienced of the two Chuunins, went pale with shock.  
  
Kakashi growled angrily. Itachi hissed.  
  
And the entity ruefully sang a low tune of woe.  
  
To describe it as a pure statue of disgust was perhaps letting it off a little too much. To say that it would put the most mangled corpse to shame with its revoluntionary new styles of disfiguration wasn't anymore fitting either. There were fresh tears of skin - human or animal, probably no one would ever find out - hanging tenaciously off his every bone and tendon. It reeked of bloodshed that would put Itachi to shame, and it had a texture of bloated grime and impoverished skin.  
  
In short, it was a terrible mixture of the worst things to have ever graced the ninja world, and it looked like it was going to grow into something even worse.  
  
"Scent... people... Scroll," it moaned, when it came into view of the trio. It abruptly turned from it's original intention to walk past the house to stare right at the inhabitants instead, sending shivers up their spines.  
  
"... Kill!"  
  
  
  
  
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Part 5 of 7  
27/5/2004  
tougenkyou . net / xd   



	6. Chapter Five

NARUTO © Kishimoto Masashi • Shueisha • Studio Pierrot • TV Tokyo. All rights reserved. Non-profit fun ahead! Fanfic named by Iruka.  
  
Warnings: Eventual fluffy friendship between the boys. Do not read if thou art not a fan of fluff!  
  
  
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Crossroads of Life  
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Chapter Five  
  
  
  
"Get back!" Adrenaline and instincts completely took over Sasuke. He pushed as many people and animals as he could deeper into the house and formed a complicated seal. "Doton! Tsuchikabe no Jutsu!"  
  
The large, flesh golem like undead creature was surprisingly fast for its size, and was nearly reaching the house with an outstretched fist when the large slab of earthern wall blocked it entirely from view and approach. The rumbling continued for until the house was encapsulated in an eerie, creepy, rustic darkness, complete with the chirping of underground crickets.  
  
Sasuke released his hand seal and slumped onto the floor with a sigh, his chakra pricking slightly inside him. It seemed like all the rest he had gotten so far had yet to restore him to peak condition yet.  
  
"Wha-What the hell was that creature just now?" Naruto jumped suddenly onto his feet. He looked frantically, and semi-demandingly at his companions.  
  
Growling, Sasuke shot back quickly, "I wish I knew!" while getting back onto his feet. There were faint thudding sounds from the other side of the stone walls and the ceiling was slowly but surely starting to give way. A particularly large slab of wall caved in near Sasuke and nearly sliced his shoulder off. "Shit, that thing's not giving up. Dammit!"  
  
"Get us back out in the open, Sasuke," Iruka wisely admonished. "This earth wall is not going to hold for long, and the house is too cramped to fight in. The thing isn't going to give up, I think. We'll be caved in at this rate anyway."  
  
Even as he spoke, the sounds grew progressively louder, and cracks began to show on the wall from the inside. More pieces of the roof fell down with dangerous, cracking sounds. Sasuke frowned and cursed. "Pick up anything you can use for a weapon, and the animals, and we'll break out from the other side. Hurry up!" He yelled, looking around the room quickly at the same time. Kakashi was a large dog, who probably could outrun the monster if he had to. Currently he stood with a wagging tail and a long, wagging tongue, signifying his readiness. Itachi, on the other hand...  
  
"Where's Itachi?" Naruto's panicked voice rose above the din that was Iruka scouring the scene for usable weapons. "Itachi!"  
  
In the chaos that followed, it was Kakashi's bark that attracted their attention to the large slab of ceiling that had fallen near Sasuke. Upon closer examination, they were aghast to find that the black cat was there, and one of his hind legs was wedged between the dislodged roof and the floor, rendering him immobile. The cat looked up impassively at the people before him, visibly shivering in pain. Quickly, though, he looked away, refusing to make a single sound. He did shoot a look at Kakashi, as if desperately trying to tell him to get the rest of the people away before it was too late.  
  
"Itachi!" Naruto, however, missed the point entirely. "No! No!! We're not going away without Itachi! I refuse to go without Itachi!" He crouched towards the cat and glared behind his shoulders at the others, daring them to challenge his decision.  
  
"Naruto!!" Sasuke's tone was admonishing. "This is not the time to be-" He stopped abruptly when Naruto flashed him an angry, bloodshot glare. Did Naruto's irises just /turn/ crimson?, the Uchiha questioned his eyesight. He shook his head to clear that vision out, and true enough, when he glanced at the boy again, he was staring into angry pools of blue instead of red. "Ah crap!" He cursed, Naruto's words last night invading his mind again. Naruto was someone who would rather suffer than to see someone precious to him suffer. It would do no good to argue with him at a crucial time like this.  
  
Abruptly, the raven-haired boy grabbed Naruto's wrist and hoisted him to his feet. Before the blond could protest, Sasuke turned to Iruka and commanded, "Sensei! Get Itachi out from the rubble, then get them to somewhere safe! Naruto and I will distract the monster in the meantime!"  
  
"What?!" Naruto screeched into his ear, causing him to almost release his grip on the blond. "Are you nuts?! No way am I going to-"  
  
"Bloody hell! Just do it already!" Sasuke barked back, applying more force to his grip on the complaining blond's hand. "Stop arguing with me and help me!"  
  
"Naruto!" It was Iruka, and he had crouched down to attend to the trapped Itachi. "Trust me! I'll get them both to safety by hook or by crook!"  
  
In the background, the rumbling sound got louder and louder. Sasuke cursed and finally released the shocked blond's hand, glaring at him while saying, "Get your act together and follow me when you're ready!" Without waiting for a response, the young Chuunin clasped his hands together, facing the area where the huge knocking sounds were coming from. "Kai!" He said, and suddenly, the large chunk of mud wall that had previously been blocking the door dissolved into nothingness. The Uchiha bent his knees slightly. In the next instant, he was nothing but a puff of dust and a trail of footsteps fading into the distance.  
  
The rumbling sounds ceased, and the ceiling of the house stopped trying to fall onto the ground. Naruto and Iruka stared in the direction Sasuke had last been seen going in, one gaping and one thoughtful.  
  
Quickly, Iruka who broke the silence.  
  
"Here," he pressed something cool and metallic into Naruto's hand, earning a stare of confusion from the man. "Naruto, remember the kunai you always used to dig your garden soil with?" He paused, and Naruto nodded.  
  
"The bunai?"  
  
"... Kunai," Iruka tried hard not to facefault. He pointed at the metallic thing in Naruto's hand. "It is a weapon - it works like a dart. And only ninjas can use it with efficiency. Naruto," Iruka squeezed the boy's hand encouragingly. "Teamwork is important for the shinobi - you need to trust your partner with all your life - and that means you have to believe whatever he says, even when it sounds impossible, and even when it doesn't always go the way you want it to." He looked seriously at Naruto in the eye. "Do you understand?"  
  
The blond quickly looked away, an annoyed pout etched across his countenance. "Yeah," he mumbled.  
  
"Good," Iruka smiled warmly at the boy. "Now get out there and kick some butt! I'll get Kakashi and Itachi to somewhere safe for sure."  
  
The blond whipped around to stare at his sensei in disbelief. Slowly, though, the distrust and hesitation in his eyes melted away. He grinned, pocketing the kunai and striking a pose. "Yes, sir!"  
  
The ponytailed man watched, proudly, as the bundle of energy he had seen grow from a boy to a teen dashed out of the house to join his comrade in the fight. A few moments of silence later, however, he turned his attention back to the black cat, still suffering under the slab of ceiling.  
  
He had a mission to do here as well.  
  
  
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Sasuke had briefly brushed by the humongous chimera-like humanoid and could smell death in its wake. The dissolving mud wall had caused the monster to lose its punching target. While it stumbled forward at the loss of balance, Sasuke took its moment of confusion to fly as quickly and as far away as he could.  
  
Predictably, the creature turned as soon as it was able to and pursued Sasuke with inhuman speed. The Uchiha had yet to even come close to the borders of the forest when he could feel the thing close to his back.  
  
Cleaving to the humming of pure instincts, Sasuke ducked and rolled, managing to avoid a lethal claw attempt at his jugular. Quickly tossing himself onto his feet, he shot a random amount of kunai and shuriken at his target, knowing that its big size would make it easy to hit. He had underestimated, however, the creature's astounding speed and constitution. Although a couple of sharp objects found their target, the remaining were deflected with an easy sweep of hand. Not to mention, the kunai and shuriken that had embedded themselves into the monster did not look like they were taking any effect at all. Still as fast as ever, the creature reappeared behind Sasuke and successfully dug its claws into the boy's neck.  
  
It was to this scene that Naruto barged in.  
  
"Sasuke!!!" He immediately cried out, panicked. He was about to rush over when a whirl of black knocked into him from the side and carried him into the trees. "Idiot, don't! It was just a Kawarimi!" The black blur had hissed. It took Naruto a while to finally realise that the whirl of black was warm, besides the fact that it could speak.  
  
"Sasuke?" He had heard the satirical voice enough times to recognise it on first hear.  
  
By then, they were safely situated somewhere in a tree, which had a clear view of the scene below them - the flesh golem thing turning its head around in all directions to try to locate its target. Sasuke took a few more kunai from his holsters and tied a net tightly to the holes looped around the hilt of the weapons. His Sharingan had snapped into place sometime in between running from the monster to snagging Naruto before he gave their position away, and he could tell that Naruto could not stop staring at it. Securing the net as quickly as he could, he purposely flashed an evil eye at Naruto, ordering, "The thing is going to find us soon - it goes by smell, not by sight. Do the Kage Bunshin to distract him and lure him as far away from the house as you can. We need to restrain it, then we can find its weakness and attack it from there!"  
  
The blond shot his companion a vulpine grin. "Gotcha!" He quickly said, and formed the seals quickly. "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"  
  
An eruption of smoke temporarily blinded the tree branch from outside view. Soon, however, the Naruto clones began flitting out of the fog in all directions, the sole purpose of luring the monster away retained in their minds.  
  
"Come and get me, ugly duckling!" The Narutos had made faces at the faceless golem and then converged together towards a common destination. As fast as Naruto's clones were, being untrained ninjas at best, they were no match for an undead creature obviously brought to life by some unorthodox summon for the sole purpose of killing. They were caught up upon a short distance away from the house, at the large clearing just prior to the forest, and were wiped out in little puffs of smoke.  
  
But by then, Sasuke was ready.  
  
He had tailed the engrossed monster in the shadows, making doubly sure to use his activated Sharingan to sweep its form for weaknesses. He was disappointed that there were none on its back. Still clutching at a glimpse of hope, he leapt into the nearby trees and raced to meet the creature head-on. Before descending back onto the grassy terrain, he flung the kunai holding his makeshift net together at the thing, succeeding in stopping it from advancing. It would not hold for long, Sasuke knew, however, so he had to be quick in his evaluation. He landed softly on the ground and rapidly scanned the enemy.  
  
He found two points of interest, before the malformed undead tore open the net and began howling for blood again. Taking his cue, he vanished back into the perimeter of the forest, racing from branch to branch near the edge, hoping to shake the creature of his back. The Sharingan faded back into normal black and he briefly wondered where Naruto was. He had to tell the blond about his analysis.  
  
He had not needed to wonder for long, for from the corner of his eyes, where he had been observing the undead creature, a blur of yellow and orange caught his attention and forced him into a dead halt.  
  
The blond dived towards the creature with an unintelligible warcry, and Sasuke felt obliged to gasp in sheer frustration. He wondered whether it would work if he shouted a warning to Naruto there and then. Apparently it was too late, for the boy had tried to punch the monster - missing by a large difference. The raven-haired teen felt like crying into his palms. Why was it that his teammates /never/ listened instructions?  
  
The monster now had its full attention on the blond, who had tumbled unceremoniously onto the ground after his failed attack. Nevertheless, his recovery was amazingly quick. He leapt back onto his feet and donned a defensive pose, snarling angrily at the blank-faced undead.  
  
There was a swift rush of air, and Naruto found Sasuke beside him in no time. "Bird-brain!" The darker-haired teen said immediately upon making his presence known. "I told you to wait for my instructions!"  
  
"But you were taking so long!" Naruto whined, knowing that he did purposely disobey Sasuke's commands this time. "I wanna hit this thing back to where it came from and just get out the hell of here!"  
  
They were forced to break formation when the creature came charging at them. Inertia was great as the thing was very large, though, and while the creature took its time to recover from its missed punch, Naruto and Sasuke quickly regrouped.  
  
"Listen!" Sasuke hissed to his companion. "The Forbidden Scroll - that thing has it! That means if we defeat it, we'll accomplish our mission as well. Do you understand?"  
  
It was shock that was reflected on Naruto's face at first, then disbelief. He frowned to indicate that he was pondering over the words just said, and eventually the boy brightened up with a beam. "All right! That's like killing two frogs with one snake, right?"  
  
Sasuke blinked once at the phrase. Then his eyebrow twitched in frustration as he corrected, "Two /birds/ with one /stone/..."  
  
"Incoming!" Naruto yelped, interrupting Sasuke's speech of indignation.  
  
Quickly, they split up again, but not before Sasuke shouted, "The chakra eye in in the middle of its face, Naruto! Aim for that eye!"  
  
A mass destruction of nature immediately followed, with flying soil and broken twigs decorating the stiff, late morning air. The undead creature was a formidable opponent, who seemed to run on limitless energy - but its one single flaw was slowly becoming evident. It was unable to utilise its chakra to do anything much except to fly a few powerful punches and to move at break-neck speed. Its lack of intelligence was probably what was keeping Naruto and Sasuke alive now, considering how relentlessly it attacked the boys. Still, there was no end to the battle in sight. Sasuke cursed under his breath when he was forced to hide in the forest again, watching as a few more Naruto clones distracted the creature. They were going to get nowhere at this rate.  
  
He scanned the terrain quickly, and spotted a heap of dried wood stacked against each other on the far side of the forest. An idea sparked, but he had to either get the monster near the heap or get the heap near the monster - neither of it seemed very possible at the moment. Instincts directed him to duck to the right, which he did; narrowly missing getting hit by one of Naruto's Kage Bunshins. The Bunshin disappeared into a puffy white cloud, and Sasuke's eyes lit up.  
  
"Naruto!!" He shouted, while bursting out of his leafy sanctuary. All Bunshins looked up at him, although only one replied.  
  
"What the hell is it now? Can't you see that I'm busy?"  
  
"Leave the thing to me! Get your ass over to that pile of firewood over there and bring them as close to this area as you can!" The raven-haired boy pointed at the woods at the far edge while landing onto the ground. "Hurry up and do it!"  
  
"All right, dammit! You didn't have to shout!" Naruto snorted, and in the next second, was racing into the distance with his remaining clones.  
  
Momentarily lost, the golem attempted to take off after Naruto, but was tripped by an unseen wire Sasuke had placed in his way after Naruto made for the firewood. "Oh no you don't," Sasuke said, moving at the same time to stand directly in front of the creature. "Your opponent is me."  
  
The creature howled again, raising both its hands up to the skies and then crouching, ready to attack. Sasuke tensed, kunai in one hand and the other resting just above his shuriken holster. To his surprise, however, no further movement came from the flesh golem. He gulped inaudibly, a sense of dread invading upon his sixth sense. Something did not seem to be right.  
  
"Uchiha Sasuke," a deadpan voice issued forth from the undead, and Sasuke almost dropped his kunai in surprise. "I see. So /you're/ the reason why my undead summon is taking so long to get rid of the Kyuubi." The thing laughed disgruntledly. "Stay out of this, Uchiha Sasuke. I'm only warning you once."  
  
/So the sad excuse for a summon can talk.../ Sasuke mused silently to himself. /... without a mouth. Real amazing. Wait. What? Kyuubi? What the heck is that?/ He shook his head to get the random thoughts out of his mind, then clutched the kunai closer. "Since you're finally starting to show signs of having a brain, I'll just warn you right back," his voice sounded dangerous. "Nobody gets away with attacking innocent civilians. Nobody."  
  
"Big words for a small boy," the eerie voice continued, and now the flesh golem rose to full height, towering over the teen. "Let us see how you fare against the might of a ninja far better than you in any field of expertise!" The boney fingers of the creature clamped shut against each other to form a seal.  
  
"... ninja? You?" Sasuke wondered, his Sharingan catching everything the creature was doing and processing the possible ways of countering the Jutsu. He quickly formed the seals.  
  
"Suiton, Suikoudan no Jutsu!"  
  
The water projectiles began to form out of nowhere, even as Sasuke made his final seal, cursing silently to himself because he knew he was late and would get hit by something for sure. "Doton, Doshouheki no Jutsu!"  
  
An onslaught of sand and soil shot up from the ground around Sasuke and began to build into an impenetrable barrier. The elements crashed with a fantastic sploshing sound and for a long while, only the sight of water attacking packed clay could be seen.  
  
When the attack ceased, the undead perused at the sight before it much with displeasure.  
  
The barrier of sand which was the Jutsu Sasuke had pulled, had not even been dented.  
  
A bright, warm glow from above it caused the creature to glance upwards, just in time to catch scattered fire-flowers raining down upon him. Behind the rapidly approaching Housenka no Jutsu, he could see a rather wet looking Sasuke just recovering from the skill. If it could smile it would have. At least one of its water projectiles had hit the young ninja, that meant.  
  
Several Housenka singed its flesh, but it did not so much as wince - not that Sasuke had expected it to. It was, after all, nothing but an unfeeling golem controlled by someone whose presence he could feel was in the vicinity. He knew, however, that if he could only attack the creature to such an extent that it was unable to move at all, then they could take the time to run away. Killing an undead was impossible, but rendering it immobile was at least thinkable. His eyes began scanning the terrain again, taking note that the logs were now no longer in the far distance. That meant that Naruto had moved it somewhere, right? Where was that idiot anyway?  
  
He broke out of his worrying to see that the undead creature was now in the middle of yet another complicated set of seals. Cursing to himself, he raced to catch the final sequence with his Sharingan, knowing that there was a low possibility he could come up with a counter in time, but willing to try anyway. Quickly clasping his hands together, his heart raced when he saw that the creature had seemingly finally finished the hand seals.  
  
"Ninpou, Kongou Saisei no Jutsu!" The monotonous voice uttered, and a ghastly blade began protruding out from the bowels of its chest. It lengthened and stretched, until Sasuke could finally discern that it was a long lance of sorts, with a handle made out of slimey, greenish things he wouldn't touch to save his life and a white blade that gleamed with a malicious aura - like it had a life of its own. He shuddered, an inner fear almost overtaking his form in the presence of the very personification of death. He didn't have enough chakra to go up against this thing anymore. He didn't know enough skills to counter its moves. He was not going to make it! And he could feel his knees going weak, his willpower slowly leaving him.  
  
That is, until the angry voice of Naruto shook him from his reverie.  
  
"Sasuke, bastard! HEY! I've been shouting at you for a million times now, are you listening to me at all?! HEY!!" The irritating voice was coming somewhere from his left, and it was completely ruining his composure. Even the enemy seemed inclined to tilt its head slightly in the direction of the sound to find out what it was. The raven-haired ninja sighed to himself and took his opponent's moment of slight distraction to bound towards Naruto's general direction.  
  
"Finally!" The blond censured him with a glare when Sasuke came near him. "I thought you'd never hear me!"  
  
"Idiot! Get down!" Sasuke swore and pushed Naruto on his shoulders, making him collapse on his butt painfully. The blond cursed with his whole life and shook a fist, meaning to kick Sasuke in the shin when a large, triangular blade thrust into the spot where Naruto had been standing. The blond gaped. He would have been skewered if Sasuke hadn't pushed him out of the way.  
  
Quickly getting onto his feet, Naruto pushed himself as far away as he could from the undead creature, who now swung its large lance around for a second attack. Flipping backwards twice, he skidded to a halt beside Sasuke, who was behind the log pile, examining it with great interest.  
  
"I did as you told me to, so what now?" Naruto tried to keep the irritation out from his voice. Sasuke's long silences always occurred before he did something strange or just downright stupid - or so, Naruto thought. He shrank back slightly when Sasuke pinned him with a 'i-know-what-you-are-thinking' glare. The Uchiha then turned to face the enemy, hands clasped in a hand seal.  
  
"Stay away, Naruto, and get ready to attack after I'm finished with him. Remember to attack that eye in the middle of its head!"  
  
Although wanting to ask Sasuke where the 'eye' was, because he sure as anything could not see any 'eye,' Naruto nodded and quickly bounded into hiding - just as he heard the first words of Sasuke's Jutsu.  
  
"Katon, Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" A huge ball of red-hot fire desecrated the morning air, tinging it with the sour taste of destruction. The chakra flames licked greedily at the firewood Naruto had piled up messily, and the undead flesh golem was forced to stop in its step in the presence of such a wildly spreading fire. Flesh and fire just did not go hand in hand together.  
  
"Thinking of tricking me with such a simple thing, youngling?" The dead voice of the undead mused, lowering its weapon to taunt the young Uchiha. "You still have a long way to go..."  
  
He paused, because Sasuke's lips curled up into a knowing smirk. Just one shift in the seal he held and the fires began wavering into something else altogether. "Ryuuka no Jutsu!" Sasuke completed the seal and the large fire before him instantly reacted, churning into a colossal fire dragon, all the more powerful because of the fiery base it rose up from.  
  
Before anybody could next blink, the dragon twisted and dived for the flesh golem. It opened its jaws and completely devoured the creature in the twinkling of an eye, lifting it back up into the air so that all that was left of the creature was now a burnt black mark on the ground.  
  
Both Naruto and Sasuke watched with abated breaths as the regal looking dragon made of fire spat out something long - and it landed somewhere in the forest. Sasuke tensed. That must have been the Forbidden Scroll he had spotted hidden in the golem. The dragon then soared further and further into the horizon, governed by Sasuke's pre-programmed instructions to carry its prey as far away from them as they could. When finally, the final sparks of the glowing flame dissipated from their sight, Sasuke released his hand seal and sank onto his knees with a huge sigh.  
  
He felt numb and knew that his chakra was not in good form presently. After the Tsukiyomi - which he had not really mastered and thus it was a skill that took up almost all his chakra, he had to face an undead enemy that could not be killed. When did his life descend into such misfortune? And he was only trying to get out of the country, too!  
  
"Are you all right, Sasuke?" Naruto asked awkwardly, raw concern in his surprisingly quiet voice. The raven-haired boy glanced briefly at him and thought he could see pity in the blond's bright blue eyes. He frowned.  
  
"I'm fine..." Sasuke quickly replied, struggling to his feet, not wanting to be in the sympathy of the blond. "Let's go help Iruka-sensei and the others-"  
  
"That won't be necessary, a new presence entered into the clearing, rustling the grass with his slow and steady footsteps. "Naruto. Sasuke."  
  
Sasuke shot one look into the direction of the man and was instantly guarded. Naruto, on the other hand, slowly smiled with genuine happiness. "Old guy!" He said, pointing to the village chief. There was a pause. "What do you mean?" Naruto's voice was filled with wonder. "Why shouldn't we go help Iruka-sensei?"  
  
The gray-haired man laughed, his friendly mask still on his countenance. In one hand he held the Forbidden Scroll, which he must have collected from where the fire dragon had spat it out from. He stroked his beard gently, and still with an amiable face and tone of voice replied the ecstatic boy.  
  
"Because he hates you. And he can't wait to hurt you. I'll bet he's killed your precious pets by now and left them mangled and bloody in your house? Why don't you take a look?"  
  
The silence that followed was cold.  
  
Sasuke was disgusted at how the man could smile like he was the happiest man on earth when verbally assaulting a boy who trusted him with his life. He could literally feel the shock emanating from Naruto. Slowly, it dissolved into anger, then disbelief, then frustration, and finally, distrust.  
  
Naruto's eyes filled up with pain and betrayal. "You... you were just like every one else! You were just like them all too!!"  
  
"Of course I was," the village chief was still smiling, and Sasuke felt his blood boil. "And Iruka-sensei was like that too. Oh my, you mean you didn't know? You couldn't possibly have felt that a wriggling worm like you could actually have people acknowledge you as a person at all? You belong right down there will all the people you have caused to die, child." Still with a smile.  
  
"Iruka-sensei..." Naruto's face went blank for a while, then twisted with fury again. He broke away from his position beside Sasuke and turned towards the house with a mad sprint. There was something he had to verify there.  
  
Something that would change the way he viewed life forever.  
  
The chief stood smiling still, stroking his beard and nodding his head. Sasuke frowned at him. "You're a piece of human trash," the Uchiha enunciated coolly. "A perfect waste of healthy, breathable air."  
  
The old man twitched slightly, but it was covered up soon. "You youngsters know nothing."  
  
"I know where to throw my garbage next time," Sasuke shrugged, "in your mouth. That's all that's necessary. You're a waste of my breath. Go away," he glared and vanished with a smoking tele-transportation Jutsu.  
  
The old man maintained his calm, although his anger was slowly but evidently building.  
  
  
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Naruto was just ten steps away from the perimeter of the building he called a home when a blur of white smoke and black cloth blocked him from further movement. He stumbled clumsily backwards with a yelp and saw that it was just Sasuke. Holding a hand to his heart, he screeched, "Don't stand in my way, bastard!"  
  
"What way of yours am I standing in?" Sasuke replied stoicly, raising an eyebrow. "/You/ are getting in our way. Hurry up and get back there so we can kick that old idiot's butt together."  
  
"I-..." Naruto opened his mouth but could not finish his sentence. "I... You- you don't understand! I need to get back to do something! Get lost!" He yelled, and quickly tried to walk by Sasuke. He was almost completely clear of Sasuke's shoulder when a hand shot out and held him back, gripping firmly onto his wrist.  
  
"Go back to do what?" Sasuke's voice was soft, and Naruto tensed. As he had overtaken Sasuke, they now stood back to back, Sasuke's grip on the hand was the only thing connecting them. "Check up on Iruka-sensei? See if he's ran away like the stupid old man said?" The blond winced with guilt, but the Uchiha was not yet done. "I thought you were a better person than that, Naruto - believing in the lie of the enemy-"  
  
"You don't understand!" Naruto interjected, voice shaking. "My whole life! My whole damned life I've been living like a fugitive! I've been beaten and bullied for things I never did! I never had anyone I could trust..." He broke down. "I thought I... I thought that I'd still have Iruka-sensei and the old man no matter what everyone else did... but... but I... they..."  
  
The Uchiha's face remained unreadable, a hard glint in his eye. "Naruto," he said sharply, voice determined. "You're right." He said, causing the blond to look up in wonderment. "You've lost one person you could trust. And anyway that old man, I never trusted him to begin with. But Naruto," Sasuke unknowingly gripped the blond's wrist tighter. "If you go into your house now, and follow what that felon asked you to do then you..." Sasuke paused. "... you'll lose one more person you can trust. And not by any fault of his - but by the sheer fact that you never trusted him to begin with."  
  
He could feel the blond shake with hesitation and felt a pang of guilt for his harsh reasoning. Quickly, he squashed that feeling and let Naruto's hand go. "I trust you, Naruto," were his final words to the boy before stepping towards the old man in the distance, ready to do battle with a burning new motivation.  
  
When he was within hearing distance of the village chief, he stopped walking. "What the hell is your problem with Naruto anyway," he spat, not wanting to mince words. "Yes, he's a bumbling idiot and he plays stupid tricks on you all the time, but if that qualifies him for eternal damnation then I think more or less everyone in this village ought to be chained up and tortured - yourself included."  
  
"He has done things that are much more terrible that, of course," the chief replied, still poker-faced. "Speaking of terrible things, aren't you a terrible person yourself?" He pointed at Sasuke, who was taken aback at the sudden accusation. "You were the one who went around slaughtering the people of the village and sending them into insanity weren't you?" He scoffed, not giving Sasuke a chance for a rebuttal. "I thought the Uchiha clan was a noble bloodline who wouldn't stoop to such dirty deeds, but it looks like I was wrong! I should write a report about this to the Hokage... Maybe the Uchiha clan is good only for their eyes!" The village chief punched his opened palm. "Can you imagine how beautiful the Sharingan would look, encased in a glass of preservative liquid, hanging from my ceiling wall?"  
  
Anger shot up to Sasuke's head like a rising tidal wave - fast and unstoppable. "Why you-" he growled in a loud, dangerous voice, hands on his holsters, ready to toss weapons out at random. His father had always told him his emotional nature would get him into trouble one day, but he was too fired up to care at the moment. Things began to take place in slow-motion. He had his weapons out in no time and ran towards the old smirking man, ready to slash him into thousands of tiny pieces of flesh.  
  
"He didn't do it!"  
  
The loud, bold declaration made Sasuke jerk to a stop. Both Sasuke and the village chief glanced up at the source of the sound, neither having noticed the presence of the loud blond atop a large tree branch until he spoke. When he saw that he had their undivided attention, Naruto grinned.  
  
"Sasuke didn't kill anybody!" The blond repeated, and this time he leapt from the branch onto the ground. He quickly ran to stand beside Sasuke and pointed at the old man, his flambouyant, careless grin back in full force. "I'd bet you did all the killing and then so you could push the blame to Sasuke, right? Huh?"  
  
In turn, Sasuke was properly surprised. All this while, he had thought that Naruto - along with everybody else in this place, was convinced that he was guilty of the murders. He felt a small smile tug at his lips at the trust his friend was giving him. But he kept his solemn outlook and bapped the blond upside the head instead.  
  
"What the hell was that for?!" Naruto held his head and glared at the darker-haired teen.  
  
"Nothing," Sasuke replied. "I just felt like doing it."  
  
A chuckle from before them drew their attention away from each other. The old man shook his head and laughed bitterly. "What a touching reunion. However, I hope you have not forgotten that I still have the Scroll that you are looking for," the old man snarled. "And you won't be able to get it from me with your abilities!"  
  
"We'll see about that!" Naruto gritted his teeth and formed the seals. Before Sasuke could stop him, he multiplied into a thousand other Narutos with a loud, "Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"  
  
The village chief was properly shocked at the sight before him. In his shock he had great difficulty deflecting a few of the messy moves the Naruto clones were throwing at him. Grasping at this element, Sasuke snapped his Sharingan into action and quickly formed his own set of hand seals. "Doton, Chikagoku no Jutsu!"  
  
The ground beneath the old man opened up and swallowed him up to his knees, rendering him immobile. One Naruto clone quickly caught the cue and slapped the Scroll away from the distracted man, succeeding in knocking it out of his hands.  
  
As they watched, yet another Naruto clone burst into the scene and stole the Scroll from the heavens, where it had been tossed to. The clone grinned, then turned tail into the forest with the Scroll, disappearing into the undergrowth in the twinkling of an eye.  
  
"Stop!" The elderly man stretched a hand out in the direction of the clone, but was too late. Not that the Naruto clone would have listened to him anyway. With another seal, Naruto made all his other clones vanish and quickly he regrouped with Sasuke.  
  
The older man gave an evil leer, hands coming up to form a seal. "You think you can stop me with such menial tricks? You obviously haven't seen enough of the world, children."  
  
While Naruto was confused at the chief's words, Sasuke visibly started. He quickly grasped his fingers together in yet another seal, and before the man could make another move, conjured a large, sand-packed prison cell around him, just as the chief summoned a geyser of water from nowhere to attack at the sandy locks on his feet.  
  
He instantly saw that the water could not completely penetrate the sandy cell, and immediately dropped his amicable facade. "You little busybody!" He snarled at the Uchiha. "Stay out of our affairs! It's got nothing to do with you!"  
  
"Not when you're trying to kill an innocent civilian!" Sasuke shouted right back. He made another set of seals quickly and concentrated, eventually saying, "Gyouko!". A heavy aura surrounded the prison cell the elder was trapped in, and he snarled even more when he realised what Jutsu had just been used.  
  
"You..." he narrowed his eyes at Sasuke, who was beginning to wobble on his feet. "I underestimated you..."  
  
"What did you just do?" Naruto quickly turned to Sasuke to ask.  
  
"I fixed the position of the sand with some chakra signature," Sasuke replied, taking in huge breaths to try to calm his nerves. Then he smirked. "Unless I die or I choose to dispel the signature, then he stays in there."  
  
A look of sheer awe decorated Naruto's face. "That's so cool! You gotta teach me that sometimes!"  
  
"First you get your Katon skills right!" Sasuke barked back. "Then we talk about learning other Jutsus, you little blockhead?!"  
  
"I'm not a blockhead!" The blond instantly retorted. "I'm Uzumaki Naruto! I'm gonna be the next Hokage! Then all of you will get some major ass-kicking from me! And-"  
  
"Naruto..." Sasuke's voice sounded dangerous, even to the blond, who shrank back slightly. Perhaps the three gleaming kunais he held in his right hand added much to the scary-Sasuke effect. "... one more word from that damn mouth of yours and I will personally make sure that these three sharp and pointy things you see in my right hand will undertake the grand task of severing the speech muscle from your mouth with the most bloody and painful way you can ever imagine." He slowly walked closer to Naruto, who slowly walked back. "Did I make myself clear?!"  
  
"Ye-... !!" The blond caught his mouth with hand and quickly and nodded fervently. Sasuke was certainly scary with sharp, pointy things. He could kick his ass later when the Uchiha was in a better mood, but for now, Naruto very much preferred to have his tongue remain in his mouth, thank you very much. At this unspoken truce, they both turned to stare at the currently chuckling village chief in the sandy cell.  
  
"Your antics are well played out indeed," he was saying, "and if I hadn't known any better I would have fallen for your innocent charms. But you are both wicked people, black in the heart - and you both must be removed for the good of all," the calmness in which the elder had said this unsettled both boys. "Do you really think you can stop me, even if you should place me in this cell? You are mistaken! I have a lot more people on my side than you have on yours!" His hands slowly clasped each other to form a seal. "And I have a lot more undead creatures on my side than you do, too..."  
  
With a sudden tremour the earth began to shake in its very foundations. Howling sounds grew louder and louder with each shake, until finally, a few trees rustled at the forest edge and subsequently snapped like twigs.  
  
The monster thundered into the clearing again, beating its burnt chest with furor. In one hand, it still held clasped, the slightly charred lance it had been using prior. The handle was also singed, but the blade gleamed brighter than ever. Both Naruto and Sasuke gulped to themselves.  
  
Although, looking on the bright side of things, they no longer had to deal with its reek and smell, nor did they had to see tingles of flesh dangling off the undead thing everytime it moved. It was now just a piece of charred black pork liver. In fact, it /smelled/ like a piece of charred black pork liver. Not that either of them were going to try to find out, anyway. The monster's single eye in the middle of its face was now visible to the world where it had previously been hidden by layers of grime and soot. The duo did the smart thing by quickly breaking formation and running away to hide in the perimeter of the forests again.  
  
Or - Sasuke /tried/ to do the smart thing by doing that, completely forgetting that as Naruto was untrained, such a thought as retreating then counter-attacking had probably never crossed his mind before.  
  
And he found that out only when he glanced into the clearing from his hiding place and realised that Naruto was still there.  
  
He groaned inwardly.  
  
"Eh? Sasuke?" Naruto looked around himself to find that his companion was long removed from his immediate presence. "Sasuke??"  
  
The old man gave a short chuckle, and the tall monster stomped closer to Naruto. "He fled from you, Naruto," he was saying, "just as everybody else has. You're all alone in this world, Naruto. You have no companions at all. Why don't you just die? You'll save us all a lot of trouble."  
  
The blond's shoulders remained tensed, and from where he was, Sasuke was unable to see his expression. /If that little idiot dares believe what that jerk said, I'll twist his neck so hard that he'll be walking backwards for the rest of his life!/ Was his internal decision, as he watched his counterpart carefully for a reaction.  
  
He was not disappointed, for soon Naruto's shoulders began to shake and quiver. Then, without warning, he let out a laugh to the heavens. Just one, short chortle, and he was done. He pointed at the elder, who had turn sombre-faced, and grinned while saying, "I've had enough of believing anything you tell me now. I'm clear on where I stand. Sasuke may have fled like a frightened dog with his tail between his legs for all I care, but he's still a lot better than a bastard like you!"  
  
In his hiding spot, Sasuke desperately resisted the urge to go out and strangle Naruto to death there and then.  
  
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" was the loud shout that gave Sasuke the helping hand. He observed as the Narutos began to circle the charred creature, attacking it from all sides. Briefly he wondered how much chakra it took for each Kage Bunshin - since it was a high-level skill he had never quite seen the scroll for it. He continued, though, observing the fight and biding his time.  
  
Naruto was not exactly having an easy time going solo (albeit with many clones) against the large, charred undead. Although the burning of its skin made sure that Naruto could now see the big eye that was the weakness, it also meant that the monster's skin was hard and flakey, and even more impossible to pierce through than before. It swung its large lance at the blond, almost decapitating him. Naruto made a funny face and ran behind his clones, trying to seek a good chance. Where was Sasuke when you needed him anyway?  
  
"When you want something done you really gotta do it yourself, dammit!" He finally got fed up and waiting and dived for the being from behind. He clamped himself rightly onto the creature's back and grabbed its head, lifting it up and holding it there no matter how hard the creature thrashed. "All right, bastard, wherever you are, you better come out and do your thing now!"  
  
"Hn," the soft but recognisable voice of Sasuke drifted into Naruto's ears. "I thought you'd never ask."  
  
Immediately the shine of a couple of kunai forced Naruto to look away. Sasuke had descended from his hiding spot and now raced towards the enemy, setting off two kunai for a start to see if he could hit the thing at long range. Although Naruto held on to its head, the creature still managed to deflect the two weapons away with its large weapon. The blond yelped at the sudden movement, almost getting throw off in the event. "Hurry the hell up, Sasuke!"  
  
"Just hold on to it, okay?" The miffed ninja was cross. He grappled with the string that tied the Fuuma Shuriken to his back and won, unfolding the large shuriken and flinging it at the creature.  
  
Before it reached, though, it split into two - the first one diving for the creature's head and the second one following close behind. Instinctively the creature repelled the one that was headed for its face, but that was a mere Bunshin and it vanished into a puff of smoke. The real Fuuma Shuriken sliced through its right ankle, forcing it onto one knee with a howl.  
  
"Naruto! Don't let go of its head!" Sasuke retrieved a massive amount of kunai and shuriken to clasp in his two hands while dashing towards the creature that was howling at its lost ankle.  
  
"I'm trying, you idiot! I'm trying!!" Was the loud and angry reply, as Naruto attempted to strangle the golem into submission from behind. The barrage of weapons came quickly - Naruto hadn't even seen Sasuke throw it. But he held still and attempted to navigate the undead creature's head so that at least some would the bullseye.  
  
And hit the bullseye it did.  
  
Two kunai successfully embedded themselves into the large eye on the creature's face, and this time the golem howled in what must have been absolute pain. It swung its lance around wildly, knocking into Sasuke, who was unable to stop his fast dash on time to avoid the move. The raven-haired boy was thrown back into the forest, and his descent also meant the destruction of two large trees.  
  
"Sasuke!" On the back of the creature, Naruto cried out. Now that his concentration was splat, the golem expeded no effort at all in throwing him off its back, which it did. The blond landed on the grassy floor with a loud thump, but other than that he was unscratched.  
  
He watched in half fascination as the creature tore at its face with its hand, trying to pull the kunai out but not succeeding for some reason. It still refused to let go of its lance, however, and was now doing a dance of desperation around the clearing. Deciding that it was only a matter of time before the thing expired by itself, Naruto quickly got onto his feet and ran to where Sasuke was thrown to.  
  
"Hey, bastard!" Naruto slowed down in his dash a distance away from the large area that had been pulverized, when he could see one of Sasuke's legs sticking out from the destroyed foliage. "You alive?"  
  
The leg twitched, but that was about all.  
  
"You'd better be alive!" Naruto quickly scrambled over broken wood and torn leaves, until he came to the large pit where Sasuke was lying in. The raven-haired boy coughed weakly and opened an eye to glare at the blond.  
  
"Don't curse me, dead-last." He spat a twig out from his mouth and sat up, slapping his cheeks to try to keep his consciousness. Not only was his chakra almost all spent, he was going to be waking up to several big bruises tomorrow into next week. Seeing the concerned face of Naruto, he stretched a hand in his direction. "What are you waiting for? Help me up, you moron."  
  
The blond snapped out of his anxiety and snarled, "I'm not a moron!" Though he did help Sasuke to his feet.  
  
"Where is that thing?" The raven-haired boy asked suspiciously, glancing around the uncomfortably empty and quiet clearing.  
  
"Huh?" Naruto turned around to look as well. "It's right there-... hey wait a minute..." The blond made his mouth into an 'O' shape. "It was there when I-"  
  
There was nothing but the soft sound of something treading on grass, before the howls of the creature was immediately upon the duo's ears. How it had gotten there so fast without anybody noticing was a mystery neither could figure out. In the shade of the late morning sun, the creature nevertheless cut a formidable presence, lance lifted in readiness, from where it stood behind Naruto.  
  
As for Naruto, the only thing he saw when he turned around was the swift descent of the gleaming blade.  
  
And the spattering of a lot of blood.  
  
  
  
... blood,  
that was not his.  
  
  
  
The pause thereafter was painful.  
  
For the first time in a long while, Naruto was at an absolute loss for words.  
  
There he stood, the talented ninja of some strange academy, a strong, powerful presence in his otherwise boring life; a noisy companion who entered his life just a few days ago - full of dreams and desires, with more than enough ability to fulfil them, having a future brighter than the gleaming afternoon skies.  
  
Impaled on the sharp side of a large blade that was meant for him.  
  
Him. The jinx. The bastard child nobody cared about. The boy with no power, no future, no hope; not worth befriending.  
  
  
  
Why?  
  
  
  
Before Naruto's mind could supply him an answer, Sasuke coughed and breathed with evident difficulty. That effectively snapped the blond out of his trance, and he leapt to his feet with uncharacteristic shouting. "SASUKE!!" He mouthed, wishing to run to the raven-haired boy's side but frozen on the spot for some reason. The Uchiha was unable to reply, still coughing away, one hand over his mouth and another clutching the offensive lance tightly. "Sasuke-"  
  
The loud roar from the monster disrupted what Naruto had been about to say or ask, and it attempted to regain control of its lance from where it had embedded it into Sasuke.  
  
As Naruto watched on in horror and amazement, the raven-haired boy held his ground and did not budge, until a particular moment in time when it seemed like the creature was about to give up the lance in favour of squashing Sasuke to death instead, the dark-haired ninja reacted.  
  
So quickly, that if Naruto had blinked, he would have missed everything.  
  
When the charred golem loosened its hold on the lance, just slightly, Sasuke grabbed the handle of the weapon that was protruding out from him and twisted it into a firm hold. He then knocked the large blade out of the golem's hands, surprising it so that it threw both charred hands up towards the sky. Taking that brief moment in his stride, Sasuke dashed forward, and still with the blade wedged somewhere in between his chest and stomach, thrust the other end of the lance through the thick skin of the undead creature, effectively pinning it to the large tree behind as well.  
  
Sasuke grunted in pain when the effect of his action caused the blade to go deeper into his body. He ignored it and through some miracle of vague, blurry Sharingan vision saw that the creature was thrashing about before him, stuck between the tree behind him, and Sasuke, with his own weapon running through him like a stick of yakiniku.  
  
To Sasuke's dismayal, he could hear Naruto's incessant rambling from somewhere behind, and he groaned inwardly. He was not quite ready to answer the blond's questions yet, which he was sure would include something along the lines of 'why the hell did you take the blow for me you stinking bastard?!'. Fearing the noisy blond would not listen to his next instructions if he did not at least give an answer, though, he snapped, "Shut up, Naruto! My body just moved by itself, okay? Now get your ass over here and help me!"  
  
There was deathly silence following his outburst, and Sasuke trusted that it meant good things. Still throbbing with the pain of a sharp blade tearing him from inside out, he clasped his hands together in what he hoped would be his final Jutsu for the day.  
  
"Kanashibari no Jutsu!"  
  
The monster trembled, then stopped struggling. It still stood standing, muscles spasming in protest at the chakra body bind, but unable to dispel it if it could not get its hands together to form a seal. Slowly, however, its hands began to move towards the handle of the lance that was buried in his body.  
  
Sasuke's eyes widened, and he tried to pour more chakra into his Jutsu while shouting, "Naruto! Get your lazy ass over here and throw something at his eye! We just need one more and he'll be gone! Don't you dare miss!!"  
  
"Shut up already, Sasuke, I know what to do!" Naruto's irritated voice came from somewhere behind him, and he felt a movement of air that was Naruto leaping over his shoulders to get a clear shot at his target. A sharp, dark object flew at tremendous speed towards the golem, who was too busy struggling to regain hold of its weapon to notice the flying weapon. When it did pay attention, though it was too late.  
  
The kunai found its spot, and buried itself deeply into the eye of the monster, alongside the two other kunai already there.  
  
There was a notable pause, before the creature launched into chaos. It howled in a voice so loud and unworldly, Naruto was sure the entire village would be attracted to the area in fearful curiosity. Speaking of which, the fact that no one else had come after all the noise were being made did bother him, although it could have been an order from that wily old man currently trapped in a sandy prison. At that thought, Naruto's heart contracted in pain. Quickly, he tried to focus on current, more important matters instead.  
  
Sasuke, on the other hand, had a lot more on his mind. For example, he noticed that his Kanashibari was no longer having a strong enough effect on the desperate monster, trying to break out of the bind to treat to his fatal wound. That meant that if the creature was going to start tossing around in pain, then he, who was connected on the other side of the lance embedded in the monster, was going to get torn apart as well. He terminated the the Jutsu and steeled himself.  
  
Then with a quick step backwards, he pulled away from the large blade, biting his lips so that he would not cry out in pain. His stoic silence usually reassured his companions that he was all right, but the massive amount of blood that poured out from the gaping wound on his chest immediately after his act was now going to serve to prove otherwise. He bumped into Naruto unceremoniously, and could hear the blond screaming something in his ear. Still in instincts-mode, however, Sasuke's Sharingan flashed brightly at the staggering creature before them, taut and wary.  
  
Released from the chakra binding and from being pined to the tree, the monster took a few experimental steps forward, clawing at its face. It managed to clasp onto the kunais embedded there and pulled them out with a loud holler, some black liquid oozing out of its source of life, which the sharp objects had punctured. It took a sniff and quickly hurled the kunais in the direction of the boys, who were too distracted with the heat of the battle to notice; or at least, Naruto was. When he did notice, however, the kunai were just a few inches away from running a hole through his brain, and he gasped in shock.  
  
That gasp was knocked out together with the wind in him when Sasuke slammed into him blocked him bodily from the kunai. As Naruto fell onto the ground with a loud THUD, he saw that Sasuke had knocked a couple of incoming kunai away but could not deal with the final one, which was now an accessory on his right chest. Staggering, the dark-haired ninja flung the remaining of his shuriken and kunai in the undead's direction, and while some cut it further in its eye, the others flew around it and fastened it to the tree behind with the invisible strings the Uchiha clan was known for using.  
  
The gasping Uchiha fell to the ground, hanging onto his last vestiges of consciousness. "Naruto..." his voice sounded raspy and weak even to himself. "... get the lance... finish the thing!"  
  
The blond only took one moment to stare, then nodded quickly in grim determination. He dashed towards where the creature had dropped its weapon and picked it up, glaring at the monster that had been the climax of the hell that was fifteen years of his life. He stood in front of the writhing thing silently, pensively.  
  
Then, without a word, he raised his arms and thrust the blade into the already broken eye of the undead.  
  
The creature immediately dropped limp in its captivity, its own weapon protruding sardonically out from its lifesource. Naruto frowned at it for only a while more, then hurried over to where Sasuke was lying sideways, gasping for breath like a fish out of water.  
  
Kneeling beside the Uchiha, Naruto's breath caught in his throat at the sight of the once proud and aloof teen, broken and battered on the ground. Although the blond was no expert on trauma and injury, he had been on the receiving end of it enough times to know when bad was bad. He also knew; having seen it himself, that the large blade had run through Sasuke like it was a poker running through a bale of loose hay. The Uchiha bled profusely from the wound by the lance, although he also sported cuts and bruises on various other parts of his body. Naruto gritted his teeth, anger suddenly rising from within him.  
  
"Why the hell did you do that for!!?" He screeched, not caring that Sasuke winced at his volume. "I don't need your help! I don't need anyone to help me! Just mind your own business next time!! I can take care of myself, dammit!" While he was yet rambling, Sasuke gave a mirthless laugh, which irked Naruto even more. "I mean it, damn you! Take me seriously for once!!"  
  
The darker-haired teen made as if he wanted to say something, but changed his mind in the last minute. He shook his head and stifled a muffled groan of pain, trickles of cold sweat running down his sheet-white face. Panicked, Naruto went closer and shook his companion slightly by his shoulders. "Sasuke... Sasuke! Sasuke!! Don't fall asleep, come on!" He touched his hand and almost shrank back in shock at how cold it was. "Sasuke!!"  
  
On his side, the Uchiha's thoughts were running as quickly as he knew he was losing his breath. He had used up too much chakra - and was losing too much blood. He had a basic regeneration Jutsu on his body, but even that was proving to be of no use. He slowly watched his very life went out of him, and wondered about the grass he was lying on. He wondered why the skies were so clear, so bright, and why the breeze was so gentle, so kind. He wondered if he should say something to shut the yapping blond beside him up. He wondered if Iruka-sensei and the animals got safely out of the house. He wondered if the sly old village chief was going to harm Naruto when the sandy prison Jutsu dissolved upon his death.  
  
He wondered if anyone would cry when he was gone.  
  
He wondered, if anyone cared.  
  
A sudden coughing fit wracked through his body, and he used the last of his strength to try to at least sit up - hoping that it would keep him awake. A warm hand circled his shoulder and helped him in that task, all this while as he could do nothing but cough up more blood. Eventually he slumped against the body of that warm hand - evidently Naruto's, at the final boundaries of his energy, too tired to do or say anything else.  
  
Something warm stirred within him. He felt a great sense of achievement none of his prior missions had ever given him before. But he could no longer recall what he had done. He was not even sure if that blurry figure he was staring at was Naruto at all. He was still making a lot of noise, so he probably was Naruto. Little idiot never knew when and how to shut up.  
  
Beyond the blond's anguished chatter were the sounds of footsteps of a few people. Sasuke tensed mentally at what he hoped was not danger. A familiar looking face with warm, brown hair and a recognisable ponytail came into his line of sight, worry written all over his face. Sasuke's gut, which had effectively taken over his brain for central nerve control decided that this person was not someone dangerous, and he sighed. As if sensing that the danger phase was finally over, he felt his Sharingan recede back into nothing. He closed his eyes and was immediately bombarded with the shearing pain of torn muscles and pierced internals. Adrenaline had blocked him from feeling much pain previously, but now that the worst was seemingly over, the pain began to spread all over him uncomfortably.  
  
A warm hand ghosted over his forehead and turned his palm over, probably trying to find a pulse reading. Sasuke would have laughed and told whoever that was that it was useless - if he had the energy. Instead he coughed and sputtered more blood out from wherever it was in his body that still had blood left, causing the people around him to go into a panic. But what they did no longer mattered. What they said he could no longer hear.  
  
He could only hear his own heart beating, his own pained breathing, and his own life, as it slowly flowed out from within him.  
  
He could not even hear himself, when he spoke.  
  
"So many..." Sasuke's voice was soft, subdued. "... so many things I... wish I could... ask him... aniki..." A cough. "... why he left the village... made us all so sad... was there anything I did that he was ever proud of?" Bemused tone. "He was so strange... so strange... they all said he was strange... but he was still my aniki... If only... If only..."  
  
A bloodied hand reached out to touch Naruto's shoulder gently, and the blond started, having been enraptured by Sasuke's broken words until now. The raven-haired boy's glazed eyes regained a bit of life, before it was snuffed out again.  
  
"If only... I'd known you earlier... I think... you would have been..."  
  
Naruto had to strain to really hear Sasuke's final words, and when he did, he wondered if what he had heard were indeed true, or if they were just a figment of his imagination.  
  
"... I think you would have been a great friend..."  
  
The remaining words trailed, and Sasuke no longer responded to Naruto's brief shakings. Iruka, who had freed the animals and had joined Naruto immediately thereafter, desperately held on to whatever healing Jutsu he knew to salvage the young Uchiha's life. Naruto could feel, distinctly, his companion - the closest thing he ever had for a friend, relax against him.  
  
Going limp and unmoving.  
  
And while many would remember that day to be a rather normal day of beautiful weather,  
  
Naruto would always remember it to be an ugly day of great loss and tremendous pain.  
  
  
  
"_**SASUKE!!!**_"  
  
  
  
  
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Part 6 of 7  
2/6/2004  
tougenkyou . net / xd  
  
nyao. what do the jutsus mean? mrrr, you can figure it out yourself by reading about what it does and what effect it has. XD no, really. you can! try it! XD XD XD  



	7. Epilogue

NARUTO © Kishimoto Masashi • Shueisha • Studio Pierrot • TV Tokyo. All rights reserved. Non-profit fun ahead! Fanfic named by Iruka.  
  
Warnings: Eventual fluffy friendship between the boys. Do not read if thou art not a fan of fluff!  
  
  
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Crossroads of Life  
--------------------------------------------------------------  
Epilogue  
  
  
  
Naruto himself was not sure what happened after he cried out loud that day. It distinctly felt like there was something hot and warm from his belly that gushed out and enveloped the entire area. Even Iruka was unable to provide him full details as to what had happened, because the aura had apparently knocked him back to the other side of the clearing, and it had taken the Chuunin quite a while before he woke up and managed to make his way back to the area where Naruto and Sasuke were, by which time both boys were already unconscious, but surprisingly breathing.  
  
He had carted the boys into the house over his shoulders, where Kakashi and Itachi were waiting restlessly at the doorway. They followed Iruka around as he tried to gather enough cloth and soft material to put together some makeshift beds, then as evening drew near and that was settled, the Academy teacher began to work on patching the roof.  
  
When he was quite done with the section he had put the makeshift beds and the boys under, he checked on his patients and smiled warmly at the sight. Naruto was holding a rolled-over Kakashi like he was a gigantic teddy-dog and Itachi had curled up to sleep on Sasuke. Well, at least no one would be freezing their butts off tonight.  
  
Iruka's optimism grew when Naruto woke up the next day, complaining like he usually did and examining the damage in his house with a critical eye. Together, they salvaged whatever was still edible and tried to put up something decent for everyone. They then fed the leftovers to the village chief, who was still stuck in Sasuke's prison. The undead creature had melted into a pile of goo when Naruto did his mighty aura blast, according to Iruka - not that Naruto cared if it had melted into goo or not. If it had not Naruto would just kill it again himself. And he told Iruka that, with a fierce, angry determination in his eyes.  
  
His eyes regained their innocence when Iruka reminded him that the fact that the prison was still there meant that Sasuke was still alive. The boy had danced all around his pets that night.  
  
The next day, a special guest came into the house.  
  
"Hokage-sama!" Iruka almost dropped the dishes he was trying to clean when Sarutobi stepped through the doorway that didn't have a door, smoking on his pipe. Naruto, who was trying to drag Kakashi for a shower at that time, turned around to peek in curiosity, giving the dog the chance to struggle out of his grasp and run away to hide behind the Hokage instead.  
  
"Kakashi! Get back here! Don't be rude to the guest!" Iruka shouted at the wolf-dog, who continued standing behind the Hokage, sticking his tongue out.  
  
"Shower time for the animals?" Sarutobi raised an old eyebrow with a certain aged kind of mischief.  
  
"Hokage-sama..." Iruka, on the other hand, was at a loss of words to say in reply. Catching his unease, Sarutobi simply strode into the room and glanced around at the mess. His face sobered in consideration.  
  
"Oh!" Naruto had temporarily forgotten about Kakashi and now pointed gleefully at the old man. "You're that GahGahGeh guy who's supposed to be the strongest ninja! Heheh! You must have come here today to challenge me after hearing about all the great things that I've done, right? Right?"  
  
The Third merely raised an eyebrow at the boy. He turned to regard Iruka with curiosity. "Great things?" He asked.  
  
The next few hours was spent with explanations, questions and answers. Before they broached the subject of Sasuke, they had shown the sandy prison to the Hokage and he had been pleased to conduct an interrogation and trial there and then.  
  
The council had had nothing to do with the persecution of Naruto. Rather, the men who had been sent there were men who secretly hated the Kyuubi for all its deeds and had schemed to bring Naruto to ruin by any means possible. The only thing stopping them were the decree by the Third Hokage, and the fact that he could spy with his little eye even when not in the village. They had tricked the council into believing that they would not fatally wound the boy, reasoning that no boy grew up normal if he wasn't beaten up once in a while. The council had agreed.  
  
Sarutobi was mostly impressed by the fact that Sasuke had performed healing, Sharingan and defended them from an undead summon which had been a result of years of chakra storing. Iruka led the aged ninja to the prone form of the Uchiha, and immediately, Sarutobi frowned.  
  
"Where did the golem get his weapon from?" He asked sternly, picking the unconscious boy's wrist up and listening to his pulse.  
  
"Ugh," Naruto scratched his head. "The thing pulled it out from itself, as far as I can remember. It was so disgusting!"  
  
Concerned, Iruka quickly asked, "Hokage-sama, is there something about the weapon... ?"  
  
The old man remained quiet for just a moment more as he concentrated on reading Sasuke's pulse. Then he closed his eyes and replied, "Yes. That's right, Iruka. That blade - it had poison on it."  
  
"Impossible!" Iruka gasped. "I checked him thoroughly for signs of poison! Everything about him was normal!"  
  
"It is not a poison that affects the skin or even the organs," Sandaime continued, as his hands moved swiftly to form a serise of complicated seals. "This kind of poison undead summon uses disrupts the chakra circulatory system and destroys motor signals from reaching the brain. It is difficult to detect. If left to spread, even if the victim should recover," he paused, then placed his palm over the spot where the blade had run through Sasuke, "At best, he may never be able to use his chakra again. At worst, he may never be able to use his limbs again." A soft light began to glow around the Hokage's hands. "It is kind of fate every shinobi fears to face."  
  
Silence consumed the trio. While the Third continued to attempt to purge as much poison as he could from Sasuke's body, Iruka's face had gone sheet white in a matter of moments after the revelation. He was bitterly disappointed that he had not been able to detect a poison so lethal on his ex-student. A ninja being forced out of commission would live a life worse than death, and he only hoped that they were not too late to help Sasuke.  
  
Naruto, by himself, had grown very very quiet. As the silence dragged on he exited the room and stalked into the open, running as quickly as he could back to the spot where the terrible battle had ensued. He glared with vehemence at the tree the monster had been pinned to, and bit his lower lip in frustration.  
  
He would have known what to do, and how to react, if Sasuke had pushed him to the fore and left him in the lurch. He would have known what to do if Sasuke had left him for dead. All his life he only knew pain and grief, and now he had a repertoire of replies and reactions he knew how to use against those who didn't care.  
  
It was against those who did care that he did not know what to do.  
  
He had not wanted to stay in the room to listen to the conversation any longer. He did not need to know that Sasuke was never waking up again, or that even if he did he would essentially be good for nothing.  
  
Gritting his teeth against the tree that stood raised high up to the skies as a mockery, he gave a sharp cry and launched himself at it.  
  
If Sasuke was dying, then why should it be so alive and healthy?  
  
If Sasuke was lying limp, what right did it have to be standing so tall and proud?  
  
Overtaken by anger, blinded with tears, Naruto attacked the tree with cries and shouts of helplessness and frustration.  
  
He did not stop until the majestic tree toppled over in a pile of splinters and barren branches, his hands bloodied and his energy spent.  
  
But his anger was far from being quenched.  
  
It was evening, so he headed back to the house, where Iruka had remained, although the older ninja was gone. The Chuunin hovered with worry over the raven-haired teen, eyebrows knitted together in deep thought.  
  
"Iruka-sensei," Naruto called, breaking the man from his concentration. He swivelled around on his feet and smiled when he saw that it was just Naruto. "Iruka-sensei, what are you doing?"  
  
Wordlessly, the Chuunin gestured the boy over. He pointed at a dark, brown mark over Sasuke's right wrist, and said, "Naruto, I can't stay in this house to take care of Sasuke for now. I need to accompany Hokage-sama back to the main village tonight. I'll be back, of course, but in the meantime, that mark you see on Sasuke's wrist," he gestured, "is an indication of the seriousness of the poison in him. Hokage-sama has gotten most of the poison out already, but the little bit that is left inside may still wreck some havoc. If, therefore, the mark turns red, inform us immediately with the messenger pigeon." Iruka nodded towards a bird resting quietly by the windowsill.  
  
"Okay," Naruto agreed blandly, not in the mood to argue any otherwise.  
  
"If the mark begins to bleed, then you'll have to kill him."  
  
"Yeah yeah...- WHAT!!?"  
  
"Naruto," a flash of deep sadness invaded Iruka's eyes, before he regained his composure and gave the blond a hard look. "Listen. And don't interrupt me. Sasuke has been hit by a lethal poison during his fight with the undead summon. Although Hokage-sama has gotten most of it out, a small amount still remains in his heart. Sasuke will have to purge this poison out by his own will. Failing which he will no longer be able to use chakra, and may even lose control of some of his limbs. Not only that, anyone who can summon undead creatures will also be able to control him - if any trace of poison remains in his system at all. Sasuke is a strong ninja, and not someone we would want for an enemy. It wasn't an easy decision! Naruto! Listen to me!" The Chuunin shook the boy, who had plugged his fingers into his ears sometime in between Iruka's monologue.  
  
"NO!!" The blond yelled back. "NO! Iruka-sensei! I can't believe that you're telling me all these! I can't believe you're asking me to kill someone. To kill /Sasuke/!! You're not Iruka-sensei! Who are you?! WHO ARE YOU??!"  
  
"NARUTO!" Iruka hollered and grabbed one of the boy's wrists. That appendage successfully out of the way, he proceeded to give Naruto a tight, painful slap across the cheek.  
  
The sound of palm against flesh echoed throughout the room for seemingly an eternity.  
  
Then Iruka slowly replaced his arm by his side and continued where he left off, head lowered. "I teach at the Ninja Academy," he began, tone even. "I teach because I love imparting knowledge, and I love it when the little children learn something that will be of use to them when their lives are in danger..."  
  
There was great pain in Iruka's expressions when he lifted his head up, as evident in his agony-filled frown.  
  
"Seeing one of my students die... commanding that he be killed is one of the last things I'd willingly want to do."  
  
Naruto had turned from staring into space in shock to staring at Iruka in disbelief. The initial shock of being hit across the cheek by the most respected person in his life soon dissipated, and was replaced with wonder. So /that/ was why Sasuke kept calling Iruka 'sensei'.  
  
"Then... then why?" Naruto mumbled, the pain in his cheek still stinging at him. "Because... because that old guy asked you to? Just because he asked you to?"  
  
"The shinobi law says..." Iruka continued, as if Naruto had not said anything at all. "That under any circumstances at all, a ninja should never show any emotions lest the enemy takes advantage of it... mission is always above self - village above friend. Never to question orders. If the power of the Uchiha clan really falls into someone else's hands..." The Chuunin trailed off. "The consequence is not something you or I can bear, Naruto."  
  
"I don't care!" Naruto yelled again, eyes flashing. "You're all not ninjas like this! You're all just heartless animals! Sasuke... Sasuke is the REAL shinobi around here! And I'm not going to do whatever you say!!"  
  
Iruka was surprisingly quiet after Naruto's outburst. The blond nursed his cheek wound angrily, and said nothing more, refusing to look in his companion's eyes until at long last, the older man spoke.  
  
"Would you," Iruka quietly asked, "rather Sasuke become like that flesh golem you fought?"  
  
Naruto gaped. "What do you mean?"  
  
"If you don't kill him, and the poison takes over his body completely," the teacher continued, eyes downcast. "Then you are condemning him to a fate like that of the undead creature... he wouldn't have control over himself anymore. He wouldn't be able to fight at his full strength anymore. Do you really want that to happen?"  
  
There was a muted silence in which Naruto stared, wide-eyed and open-mouthed at his guardian. Many thoughts raced through his mind and he felt compelled to respond, but could not.  
  
Finally, a familiar voice called out from the distance.  
  
"Iruka," it was the Hokage, his pipe in one hand and the other held loosely behind him. "The ANBU have extracted the rebel chief from the cage, and the rest of the rebels are being rounded up. We should set off soon too."  
  
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Iruka blinked and responded with a monotone. He slowly walked towards the doorway, and gave Naruto one last, meaningful look when brushing by his shoulders, before stepping out of the house in the trail of the Hokage.  
  
Their footsteps soon faded away into nothingness, and once again, Naruto was alone, with nothing but the cries of cicadas and chirp of birds to accompany him.  
  
He sat down cross-legged with a loud sound on the floor beside Sasuke, clasping his ankles tightly and rocking about, trying to think. Kakashi strode up to him and nudged him, but he did not respond to the silver husky. Throughout the long period of silence, even Itachi stumbled back in from wherever he usually stayed in and stared with interest at the duo of boy and dog. He padded slowly up to Naruto and rubbed at his back once. Getting no reaction, he then strode over to Sasuke, observing the unconscious boy with great fascination.  
  
After a very long period of time, Naruto screeched and tore at his hair. "Dammit! That's it! I'm not going to think anymore! Sleep! Yes! Sleep! Sleep is good and I'm gonna sleep now so don't disturb me, you two!" He warned his pets sternly. Grabbing a blanket, he tossed it over Sasuke carelessly, making sure to cover the blotch by his wrist. He looked like he was going to make a jibe at the sleeping boy, but eventually he turned out to be merely opening his mouth without saying anything. The blond scratched the back of his head with a pout, then turned around and settled down on his own makeshift bed beside the Uchiha.  
  
"You better be up by tomorrow morning, Sasuke bastard! And good night!" He yelled, turning over and falling dead asleep in no less than ten seconds.  
  
--... Completely missing the slight twitch in Sasuke's hands when he had called his name.  
  
Taking this to be their cue, Kakashi and Itachi started to curl up between the boys to sleep as well.  
  
After all, without Naruto to bug them and vice versa, where was the fun in staying awake nowadays?  
  
The moon rose, the sun set, and the night passed peacefully.  
  
Then came the next day.  
  
When Naruto awoke, it was already late afternoon.  
  
Swatting Kakashi's tail away from his face, the blond sat up and stretched, glumly staring at the subdued sunlight diving into the house that was in patches. He wondered if time had just gone backwards, because as far as he could remember, he had gone to sleep when the moon was only exchanging places with the evening sun. It seemed impossible that he would wake up to another setting sun.  
  
Rubbing his eyes again, he glanced around sleepily.  
  
Kakashi had scooted away after succeeding in his task to wake the sleeping blond up, positioning himself at the doorway and staring expectantly at the boy. Not knowing what Kakashi could possibly want, Naruto ignored the dog and proceeded to the kitchen. He walked around the destruction and blood for a while, then checked the disaster zone that was the living room. There wasn't a single thing in the house, excluding some parts of the wall and ceiling, that wasn't in some state of destruction or another. That's right. All was in order.  
  
By the doorway, the silver dog was growing impatient. He howled at his owner, running up and circling the blond, howling again when it was obvious that Naruto was not going to pay attention to him. He ran in between Naruto's feet and the two empty makeshift beds on the floor, howling again and again until the teen screeched in agony and demanded, "WHAT?!"  
  
The dog, for the lack of an intelligent tongue, sat on the empty bed where Sasuke should have been sleeping in.  
  
"What's wrong with the bed?" Naruto sighed, walking over, fully awake now. "Yeah, it's made of sticks and feathers and scraps of cloth, but it's still a nice thing to sleep in, okay? Just like the stupid bastard to wake up and toss his blanket aside and not help make the bed, feh! ..." The boy paused dramatically after his exclamation and blinked.  
  
He slowly turned to look at his bed, where the blanket he had tossed over Sasuke last night now laid. He then turned to look at Sasuke's bed, where, instead of a certain raven-haired Uchiha, sat a silver-maned dog who stared lazily at him with a wagging tail. Seeing that Naruto appeared to have finally realised the discrepancy, Kakashi stood up and barked at the boy, shaking him from his reverie.  
  
"Where'd Sasuke go?" Naruto mouthed to himself while staring at the bed. A small pang of fear ran through his heart, as Iruka's words from yesterday began repeating in his mind. If not completely neutralised, the poison would enable Sasuke to be controlled, right? So he could have walked out of the house even if he wasn't completely well because someone was controlling him, and making him do bad things, right?  
  
Once again, it was Kakashi's howlings that drew him away from his wild imagination. The wolf-dog had returned to the doorway and yapped urgently at the blond, running a few steps out and then back again to yap when he saw that Naruto wasn't following. Frowning, the blond finally began a slow walk towards the door, all thoughts of Sasuke's possible location now thrown to the back of his mind. What could Kakashi possibly want to show him?  
  
The dog led the boy along a wild trek, sniffing for something on the ground as he did. Periodically he would turn back to make sure Naruto was still following, before bounding further down the path in the wilderness. They passed by many places - the empty sandy cage outside the house, the semi deforestated area where they had fought the beast, past a good area of the forest on its bare fringes, by the village chief's house, which was now just a lonely, white-washed building devoid of all life and passion; until finally, they stopped at an outcrop protruding over the village centre in seeming observation.  
  
There was someone there already, seated right at the very edge of the cliff and looking down at something. Naruto stayed hidden behind a tree, wondering if he should step out of the safety of the forest. Kakashi, however, didn't bother to wonder, for he ran straight towards the dark figure in the distance with yelps and howls.  
  
The figure jumped slightly, then turned around, causing Naruto's breath to get stuck in his throat.  
  
It was Sasuke.  
  
He knew he should have stayed slightly longer in camouflague to at least observe the Uchiha's actions and decide what to do after that. But the ecstasy at seeing the once limp and half-dead boy alive and moving was too much for Naruto to bear, and he broke into a run after Kakashi. "Sasuke!!" He shouted, elated when the young Chuunin blinked once in acknowledgement at his approaching form. "Sasuke!!"  
  
The blond slowed down when he got closer to the cliff and held his breath at the scene.  
  
The entire village was in view from this perspective. He had no idea he had been climbing so high up into the hills when following Kakashi, and many a times he had thought of turning back. Now, however, he was glad he did not.  
  
Beneath the sandals upon his feet, he could see the village from perimeter to perimeter. There were slight movements that he knew were the people moving about in their daily affairs. Houses were distanced and small, and shrouded by the low hanging mist that came from a natural evaporation during cold season in a hot village like this. The blurred outlines of all that was going on in the cosy village nestled in all directions by lush greenary captured Naruto's attention in more ways than one.  
  
He had been too busy with his own affairs to have noticed - but now he knew and would never forget.  
  
Despite and above everything else - a moment of time spent in laid back relaxation and thought would have been all the medicine he might have needed for his trials.  
  
Because despite and above everything else - his village was beautiful.  
  
"Hey, idiot," Sasuke's calm voice drew him back to the present, and he glared at the Uchiha for daring to proclaim his mind useless again. "Stop standing there and staring at nothing," Sasuke continued, unfazed. He gestured to the spot of empty land beside him in a silent invitation.  
  
"I'm not staring at nothing, jerk," Naruto snorted, but sat down anyway, dangling his feet over the cliff and feeling great that he had the whole village beneath his feet. He kicked slightly and grinned, enjoying the undertowing breeze. "What're you doing here anyway? You're supposed to be lying down, coughing and gacking away and I was supposed to be making fun of how pathetic you are while feeding you ramen - the healthiest food in the whole world!" While Naruto raised a triumphant fist, Sasuke cringed in disgust. "Hey, don't gimme that! Ramen's the best food you can ever get anywhere! It wakes you up to a healthy day!"  
  
"Says the boy who got up later than an injured ninja," Sasuke snorted again, stuffing the piece of paper he had been reading back into his pocket. Before Naruto could react, he sighed and continued, "I'm all right, you idiot. There's no need to baby over me. And anyway, why aren't you back at the house? Don't you need to look after it?"  
  
The blond opened his mouth to reply, then stopped abruptly, frowning and looking away. A short silence later, he said, "Their target was never the house to begin with. It was always me. If I'm not there, the house should be safe. Don't worry about it." He waved nonchalantly.  
  
They continued in silence.  
  
Behind them, there were a few soft barks, carried over only by the waning winds. Both boys turned to glance at the scene of Itachi slapping Kakashi again with a kitty paw, and the dog yelped but did not retaliate. While Naruto laughed, Sasuke was horrified. Only the animals /Naruto/ kept could resort to such childish manners, he decided. So engrossed he was in wondering why a small cat had such dominance over such a large dog, he almost didn't hear Naruto's softly spoken question.  
  
"Hey, like, I mean... you all right... or something?" The blond looked away quickly after asking, afraid that his companion would stab him with sarcastic words again. "Iruka-sensei was so worried... and even the old Hokage guy thought you were done for. I mean- that was one hell of a nasty gash! /I/ wouldn't have healed so quickly, and I'm supposed to heal at the speed of light! I mean- argh! This is bloody hard!" He took a deep breath, ignoring Sasuke's questioning look. "I'm just... I'm just glad... that you're all right. Bastard. That'll teach you not to jump in front of sharp, pointy things next time. And you call /me/ an idiot."  
  
Turning around, Naruto found himself the receipant of a dark, wondering stare. "You really /are/ an idiot." Sasuke finally said, after examining Naruto's face and concluding that the blond had meant every single word he had said. That effectively made the boy bristle.  
  
"That's it! I've had enough of you calling me an idiot! I'm not an idiot and I'll prove it! I... I'll..." He glanced around, trying to come up with something to prove.  
  
"You'll?" Sasuke prompted, an evil smirk crawling into his expressions.  
  
"I'll... prove it... when I find... the right tools... yeah..." Was all Naruto could mumble in reply. From beside him, Sasuke sighed loudly.  
  
"You don't have to prove anything, Naruto," he said, standing up with slight difficulty. He held a hand over the area of his lower chest where the large lance had skewered him and grunted. "You've been a great help. I was wondering if I should say goodbye to Iruka-sensei, but since you're here he's obviously nowhere near this part of the village." With an eye on the scenario beneath him, Sasuke explained, while standing and limping away into the forest slowly. "The village is in chaos. It seems like the undead creature also destroyed part of the area within the centre yesterday when it was going around looking for victims. Now is a great chance to slip away unnoticed. I'm eyeing the east gates, actually... ..." He stopped walking away from the cliff, when he noticed that Naruto had not uttered a single word in response since. "Naruto?"  
  
The unusually quiet blond had yet to budge from his seated position by the cliff, and that made Sasuke stare. He glanced about himself and fidgeted uncomfortably. Did he say something wrong? What was it? He had put much careful thought to what he had just said, too!  
  
"Say, Sasuke," it was Naruto, who was still seated by the cliffside, staring at the village beneath him. "You... have a lot of friends, right?"  
  
The Uchiha looked to a side, and wondered if he should answer that frankly.  
  
"What does it feel like... to have friends?"  
  
To that, Sasuke frowned. "Moron. I don't get what you're trying to say."  
  
"ARGH!" Naruto jumped to his feet in reaction to being called moron, and whipped around, giving Sasuke a hard stare. "You know what I mean, bastard! Get off your pedestal and listen to me properly once in a while, why don't you? Although it's hard to believe that a cold-hearted, nonchalant anti-social snobbish jerk like you can have friends at all-"  
  
In the background, Sasuke rolled his eyes and turned around to walk away, knowing that once Naruto got started on ranting, nothing short of the end of the world was going to stop him.  
  
" - and that must be one of the greatest mysteries ever to grace the face of this world speaking of which since I don't understand how someone like /you/ can have a life and have friends I really don't understand how come /I/ want to be your friend too!!" A deep, deep breath.  
  
Silence.  
  
"Are you listening to me, you bastard?!" Naruto screeched, slightly angered that Sasuke had his back against him all the while he had been making his proclamation. "Did you hear me or not? You're not the nicest person in the world or anything but you at least look me in the eye for what I am!" At this, the blond's head lowered. "... People never treat me the way I should be treated... they call me a monster before they even know who I am. Besides Iruka-sensei, it's like no one else in this village cares what my name is. That's why... that's why..." He started to shudder, gritting his teeth. "I really... I really want to be... your friend..."  
  
This time, Sasuke did turn around, and he looked crossed. "What the hell are you talking about, pea-brain? What in the world, 'be my friend'?!"  
  
Although having prepared his mind and heart for the rejection he knew was sure to come, Naruto could not help but feel an emptiness and despair at Sasuke's angry words. He was right, after all. Who wanted to be friends with a society outcast? Who dared to go against the tide of oppression? Especially for a nutcase like himself, Naruto thought bitterly. He had nothing to offer those who were brave enough to stand up for him. He was nothing but a little prank-playing idiot who rose in fury at every small thing, after all. Dejection began to creep into the blond's very being, and he remained deathly silent. So did, he noticed, Sasuke. Maybe the Uchiha had already left? That was a possibility - the raven-haired teen had been blurbing about the east gates or something prior to Naruto's declaration, after all.  
  
The blond was slightly surprised, therefore, to hear the shuffling of feet and, raising his eyes, to see that Sasuke still stood where he was, arms folded across his chest in pose of annoyance that was reflected perfectly on his face. "What with all the things we've gone through together already," the Uchiha was saying to an amazed Naruto, "you'd think that we already /are/ friends! How much more idiotic can you get, moron?" He harrumphed loudly, but remained on the spot.  
  
Several moments of high tension passed, whereby Naruto gaped like a goldfish and Sasuke got increasingly annoyed. Not far away from the staring duo were two bemused animals, who had stopped fighting some time ago and now observed the scene before them with great interest.  
  
It was Sasuke who alleviated the tension first, with a long-suffering sigh. He held a hand out and asked pointedly, "Well? Are you coming along or not?"  
  
Dumb-struck at the sudden question, Naruto instantly uttered what immediately came to his mind. "Going along where?"  
  
If at all possible, Sasuke blanched and stared with even more incredulity at his companion. Instead of another jibe at the blond's intellectual abilities, however, he simply replied, "Out of this damnable place, of course! Where else did you think we were going to go to?"  
  
The blond merely blinked. "But you... But I... But we... ???"  
  
"Or do you mean you want to stay in this sad excuse for a village?" Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "You don't have a house anymore, Iruka-sensei can't always be looking out for you, and the people here are the shittiest bunch I've ever laid my eyes on. Why don't you get out, see the world? I mean, I'm not saying you /have/ to come along with me, but I thought it'd be nice to have some company, and since you've helped me so much it would only be polite to ask you to come along; especially after all the problems that have-"  
  
Unbeknownst to Sasuke, who had closed his eyes while rambling away with his excuses, Naruto's smile slowly grew from non-existent, to slight, to small, to big, to large, to maniacally happy. "ALL RIGHT!!" Naruto shouted, cutting the Uchiha off from thinking of anymore excuses. He scampered over happily to where Sasuke stood and grinned at the slightly frightened boy, saying, "We're setting off immediately! We're gonna see the world, gonna make new friends, gonna learn new techniques, and I'm gonna be the Hokage!" Naruto waved a hand at the tongue-tied Sasuke. "You can be my left hand man, Sa-suke!"  
  
The taller boy bristled, and slapped Naruto upside his head. "Who the hell wants to be your left hand man?! Hurry up and let's go before the villagers get their security back together!"  
  
As Sasuke began to walk off, Naruto trailed behind him, rubbing the lump on his head carefully. "You don't want to be my left hand man? How about right hand man then? They always say that the right hand men are the better of the lot, right? And I'm right-handed too, so that would make for a good combination, don't you think? OW!" Naruto found himself being thrown forward by yet another slap upside the head. "What was that for?!"  
  
"Nothing much," Sasuke replied blandly. "I was hoping that idiocy could be cured with slaps to the brain."  
  
"WHY YOU-!!"  
  
"Stop talking and let's just go already!"  
  
Slowly, their voices and footsteps faded into the distance. When they were starting to get out of sight, Kakashi and Itachi turned to stare at each other.  
  
Soundlessly, they ran after the squabbling duo.  
  
If they thought they could leave two cute and helpless animals behind while they went on whatever grand world domination plan they had, then those two cute and helpless animals sure had something to tell them!  
  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
When a flustered Iruka barged into the Hokage's office the next day to report about the state of the empty house, devoid of life altogether, Sarutobi had merely laughed and showed the worried teacher a note which the messenger pigeon had brought in the evening before.  
  
/I'm coming to claim your seat after my round-the-world tour - Just you wait!!  
  
... Please ignore the idiot. Thank you for all your help, Hokage-sama, Iruka-sensei./  
  
It had read.  
  
Neither Kakashi nor Itachi returned within the next few weeks, but the Hokage was not worried.  
  
Their mission was not over yet, after all.  
  
Right?  
  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------  
  
  
"... so... tell me again why we're bringing a big, silver husky and a black little feline along with us on our way out?"  
  
"Because we're family! F-A-M-I-L-Y!! I'm not going anywhere without them, and you're not going anywhere without me, you hear?"  
  
"..."  
  
"And anyway, let's... GO!!"  
  
"Woof!"  
  
"Meow."  
  
  
  
  
--------------------------------------------------------------  
Part 7 of 7  
12/6/2004  
  
  
a/n  
hm? you're reading? you're /still/ reading? o.Ox thank you so much! [bows] errr, i guiltily admit i haven't been looking at any of your wonderful reviews until this morning. [apologises profusely] so i'll just reply them all at one shot!  
  
**Vanyel **- don't mention it. :) your fic was highly motivational and deserves more than just a mention! ... if i knew what i could do to give it that x.Xx i'm still waiting for UTU... err wait, have i read the new chapter yet? darns. sorry bout that. i'll try to catch up. :) i have faith in your witing and am definitely sure the plot is fleshing up. can't wait!!  
  
**Ayako **- mwahahaha! friendship fics are rare eh? o.Ox  
  
**LoStkOKo-sAmA28** - i could have broken this into... 20 parts. but i think people wouldn't have liked that. XD  
  
**Akki **- oroo... it only gets as sasunaru as canon gets, i hope... XD  
  
**Yukimei **- thank you so much for adding to favs! [bows] ah yes. who doesn't want a cat named itachi and a dog named kakashi? XD  
  
**ILLK **- i promised! i deliver!! ... at least, i hope this chapter was fluffy enough. O.Ox as i mentioned, only as sasunaru as canon gets... XD  
  
**JannZ **- aaaa yet another one who wants an itachi cat and a kakashi dog. join the club, buwahahaha!! XD  
  
**moonlight2 **- of course! they're both same age. :D this fic follows canon up until naruto is five, after all. :3  
  
**kit **- mwahahaha. yes, finished it. hope ya liked it!  
  
**cfox **- nothing but the highest form of praise to be told that characters are in character. [bows] thank you.  
  
**Jin **- join the itachi-kitty and kakashi-doggy club! [leers] i'm soooo glad you think my fic is worthy! hopefully you stuck on till the end. O.Ox  
  
**B.U.G.I.M.S** - fox out? sure. XD where's naruto if he doesn't display a kyuubi once in a while? hope this chapter made you happy. XD  
  
**Mori **- YES!! YOU WILL SEND ME PICS WHEN YOU ARE DONE, YOU HEAR!!??! I'LL BE WAITING!! mwahahahaha!! [gags chokes dies]  
  
**cevgar **- you're the first (and only?) person to figure that i had the entire fic on my site already. [cackles] yes, thank you for being absolutely frank. i thought i dragged the battle out a bit too, but i took into consideration an older, probably stronger sasuke. i hope the discrepancy didn't distract you too much though! sequel? sequel?? XD actually i never thought about it. but now that you mention it i feel like i must at least try to consider it... thank you for putting ideas into my head. XD yes, hamster orochimaru begs to be written. XD behind the seal? glad you liked that. :3 you're right. i can never hope to win the ramen no jutsu. XD  
  
**karrafear **- houshin... yeah. trying my hardest. XD glad you liked my naruto nonsense too! :3  
  
**ssjmiraitrks **- here you go, the entire story done! XD  
  
**Wolfgirl13 **- thank you! now that the story's done, i hope you enjoyed it!  
  
**Silver Dragonfly** - yaaay! itachi and psychotic feline! mwahahahah!! XD i think i overdid the bias a little, but hey, some people /are/ like that in real life, non? :D  
  
**Fuji Fox** - ah yes. i love giving fan service. just like kishimoto-sensei. XD fic up entirely, hope you enjoyed it!  
  
**izumi **- sowwie! T.Tx hopefully this chapter appeased you!  
  
**kai013 **- your wish is my command! XD  
  
**every other reader** - i'm sooo happy that you stuck on to me until the end. hopefully i didn't bore you out too much! 


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